Recommencement of Time
by Wrathie Winsre
Summary: In a world where death has no meaning, what matters would be what comes from within, and the decisions that one would make. To what extent would one go to remember those that was already lost? AU OC Universe. Continues from Vol 4 of the Novel, and possibly the End of the Anime. Serious spoilers warning!
1. An Introduction

Recommencement of Time

**Chapter 1: Setting the Setting**

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Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon.**

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**Author's Notes: This story is based on the Light Novel by Touno Mamare, 'Log Horizon', and is scheduled to be released as an Animation in the Autumn 2013 Anime Season on October. It's naturally a fanfiction, which in this case, will contain an OC for it that I hope to expand the general storyline with.**

**The necessary introductions to the setting of Log Horizon will be covered within the story itself, I'll do my best with them, seeing that the light novel has not been really covered, or translated by the western community, but first a general introduction of Log Horizon.**

**Log Horizon is a light novel written by Touno Mamare, which one might recognize as the author of Maoyū Maō Yūsha, and the most basic summary would be it details the story of MMORG players who was whisked away into a fantasy world that was identical to the game itself.**

**One might draw comparison with the recent, and very successful light novel/anime adapation: 'Sword Art Online', but there are many differences within the setting, the premise, the delivery as well as the plot elements of the two stories.**

**So before the fanwars begin, I decided to take up this challenge to write about Log Horizon, my absolute favorite Light Novel of all time. If this could generate some interest on the premise, I would be very happy.**

**That said, due to the lack of Western Coverage (that I am aware of anyway), till the official translations are out, I'll be using my own (very limited), translation capabilities to bring to you, the reader, the world of Log Horizon, as such, the specific bolded terms would be subject to change when the official translations are made available. Or if someone could point me to the right terms, I'll be even happier!**

**So please bear with me for now, and when FF. Net takes the time to make the categories, and I'll do the best that I can do introduce the world of Log Horizon to all of you. There would be certain elements which would consist as spoilers, but I couldn't help myself!**

**-Regards**

**wrathie**

**Additional Notes: **

**Updated 08/10/13**

**The kneejerk response to the release of the Anime has been overwhelming, and since the Anime's release has released some terminology for me to work with, I'll be updating the chapters accordingly. Thank you for your patience.**

**And if it wasn't obvious before, SPOILERS WARNING.**

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Akihabara, the one of the leading electronic and homeland of animation, game and otaku goods in Japan was not what it's frequent visitors, and travellers thought that it would look like.

Gone was the metropolitan city, busy streets, and the many shops that demanded attention. Instead it was replaced with a scene straight out of an apocalyptic scenario where humanity had abandoned it altogether.

The entire city, although rebuilt, still bore signs of being reclaimed by nature, with trees, vines and various shrubberies growing between the gaps of the buildings itself.

It was an abandoned city, one which had been left to rot, that has now been reclaimed by the people that now live within it again, trying their best to accommodate to the changed city landscape as best they could.

Most of the city's buildings were still standing, the few that had collapsed were yet to be cleared, all in all creating a veritable maze within the city that would cause any normal traveller to the city to be lost if one took a wrong turn.

Welcome to Akihabara, one of the 'beginner cities' of the popular and oldest MMORPG, Elder Tales. With an estimated one hundred thousand players in japan alone, twenty million worldwide, and with a twenty year old development history, it boasts of complex histories, riddled with in-game lore, great system mechanics that has spawned it's own share of legends and stories within the community itself.

It wouldn't be a stretch to call it a parallel world in some aspect, as there were individuals within the game itself who lived, and breathed the game.

This was very fitting, for right now, as around fifteen thousand players in Japan were literally living their lives out in Akihabara. Elder Tales, which had been a source of entertainment, and to others, a way of life _had _been a game, only now, the 'players' were living out their lives within it.

Welcome to Akihabara, the setting of a fantasy world, where players became citizens, the Adventurer's and inhabitants of セルデシア**(Seldesha)**. To the Adventurers, this fantasy world was a familiar face; one could almost say that the two were almost identical, with the same mechanics, the same monsters, with their individual levels, equipment, guilds, friend lists all intact when they were all whisked into this fantasy world.

The Adventurers were stuck into this world due to what they term as the Apocalypse, where the players who were logged in Elder Talesfor the latest and twelfth update of Elder Tales, The Novasphere Pioneerswere all transported into **Seldesha**.

As one would have expected, the entire city and it's inhabitants of Akihabara descended into chaos, and despair for quite some time after the players discovered that they were unable to leave this Fantasy World. Or was it really a fantasy world? The debate continues even till now.

As Adventurers, they were unable to truly die, even if they died in combat, where their HP was reduced to zero, they would be respawn at the cathedral of the nearest City, naturally with a penalty of a drop in EXP as per the norm of the game.

No matter what method they tried, players of all levels and age were unable to escape this living nightmare of 'immortality'. Apparently Adventurers were pretty long lived by default, does this meant that they, the Adventurerswere living immortals?

The answer to that was a resounding: 'No'. Even if they would never truly die in battle, there were other penalties of 'dying' in this world. It had to do with the way resurrection worked for Adventurers and the world in general.

With each death, they were at risk of losing something precious from them that they could never reclaim.

That fact was currently kept away from the general public by the **Roundtable Council, **a self-ruling and self-appointed group of 11 guilds that had gathered together to govern over Akihabara.

The **Roundtable Council **was formed out of necessity in response to the spiralling circle of chaos, despair that the stuck Adventurers were going through. With an seemingly immortal body, and only subject to the problems of sustenance as well as the normal 'needs' of people, the Adventurers as a whole was losing their reason to live in the world.

..

It was a common saying that there were two categories of things that people wanted, the 'need' as well as the 'want'.

'Need' would be the things that were necessary for human sustenance, while 'want' would be things that motivated people, things that kept them going throughout life itself.

'Needs' were simple things like the air one breathe, the water that one drank as well as the food that one ate.

'Want' was a little more complicated, but simple in theory as well. They were unique to individuals, but they served as things that encouraged people to do things, things that one look forward to. Examples of 'want' were things like good food, books, or even games.

With plenty of ways to obtain the former and with absolutely nothing of the latter, the stuck Adventurers were unable to even find a motive, goal or a reason to keep living. There was simply a lack of 'motive, 'reason', for them to keep them occupied, or having goals to work towards.

However it was common knowledge and sense that if one found themselves stuck in a scenario like this, one's would naturally try their best to find a way to escape from this world.

Many tried and all failed, so when the reality that they were truly stuck in this fantasy world with no way to escape, society started to collapse as a whole. It didn't happen over the course of a month, no, it took less than a day for society to start unravelling.

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If one has a goal to work towards, in this case, getting out of this fantasy world, it would at least be a relief, but without it... it would just bring out the desperation in people.

As observed by the _founding member_ and instigator of the **Roundtable Council**, like the real world, the entire world of **Seldesha** was one's oyster. One could do anything, and it seemed to be too 'free' for its own good, it was also true that a cornered rat would do anything to save themselves, even if it was at the expense of other people.

That was simply true as there was no law and order, without respect for laws or simply having deterrence to keep things civil, society itself would degrade itself into a more primeval, one could even argue, medieval age.

It was also ironic that the setting of **Seldesha **itself was also eastern medieval in nature, but it was indeed true that society itself was breaking apart at an alarming rate.

With the absence of established rules and order, as well as the lack of force to enforce the rights of people in the world, Akihabara was on the verge of being destroyed from the inside by the worse of human nature. There were instances of PK (Player killing) towards lower levelled Adventurers**, **rampant looting, fluctuating market prices for necessitates and the like within and outside of Akihabara.

There was perhaps a 'reason' driving them on in doing _something_, but was that reason 'right'?

Was it acceptable?

As there was no one to give judgement on that, no standard to be measured at the start, the strong would definitely weed out the weak without mercy to sustain themselves and only themselves, to maintain that fragile grip of power that might have eluded them.

The abuse and trampling of human rights by several guilds to benefit themselves, the enslavement and kidnapping of **大地人** (People of the Land), had been the straw that had broken the camel's back.

As the _founding member_ of the **Roundtable Council** had declared passionately, they were a civilized people, and he for one, would never agree or accept that the society that they had all shared, and enjoyed, be built on such shameless acts.

It had taken a long sequence of events, and careful manipulation before the **Roundtable Council** was set up, it's eleven members was carefully selected by the _founding member_ to consist of the top five leading raiding guilds based in Akihabara, the top three production guilds, and three selected middle-sized all-purpose guilds to act as spokespeople for the smaller guilds. That was not including the guild of the _founding member_ as well.

Despite the manipulation by the founding member to chair, and to even coerce the other guilds to join the **Roundtable Council**, eventually all of them agreed with what he proposed to setup and the necessity of the** Roundtable Council's** existence. In a nutshell it was basically the return and enforcement of law and order within Akihabara itself by the Council members and their guild members.

The world was free, like what was mentioned before, but it was also rift for abuse. With the setting up of the **Roundtable Council**, it was hoped that the entire city would be able to form a more cohesive society for the entire good of the people. It was a noble goal, but as citizens of Japan, who was more familiar with a democratic electoral system, it all hinged on whether the Adventurers themselves could accept the **Roundtable Council, **who was selected and 'sworn' into power without their proper consent.

Adventurers was a race, a being, a unique class within **Seldesha** that could not be coerced, or influenced into following what they do not wish to accept.

They were in essence, 'free', and so it was thankful and a relief to the members of the Council that the majority of the Adventurers were willing and happy to accept them as the 'ruling' body of Akihabara. This meant that their faith in their fellow humans were not lost, that they too, believed in the same ideals, a world where everyone had equal rights, just like what they had in their homeland.

However, they too knew that if they lost the people's trust, they would no longer accept them as well. However, it was also through this that a semblance of the society that they had lived in was recreated in **Seldesha **within Akihabara.

..

As Akihabara had been an Adventurer's city, the citizens of the city consisted of mainly of Adventurers;there were however, another group of people living together with them, the People of the Land.

The Adventurers could be called a different class or race from the inhabitants of the **Seldesha**, 大地人or People of the Landin that they could be considered truly immortal. If an Adventurer dies, they could be resurrected at the cathedral, the People of the Land however did not have the luxury, they were in essence, normal people to the Adventurers, people that did not naturally possess their strength, their skills without extensive training. They named themselves as such for they were people who were born of the land, lived off the land, and would die by the land, hence, **People of the Land**.

In the days of Elder Tales being an MMORPG, the People of the Land were simply NPCs, beings who were programmed to repeat an instruction, to offer lore and setting to the world while giving their users quests.

However, when the Adventurers were whisked into **Seldesha**, the NPCs were subsequently 'transformed' into People of the Landand each one of them was a living, human beings with their own rights, their lives and societies as well. Maybe transformed wasn't the right word, no, it really wasn't.

It had become somewhat of a shock to the more veteran players, who had after experimentation, established that **Seldesha **was identical to the world in Elder Tales, and as such declared that the People of the Land were just NPCs. NPCs were in essence, to put crudely, programmed artificial intelligence who had set actions, like to man a shop, to provide quests and etc.

They did not know how wrong it was, and it was a common occurrence for all the Adventurers who were 'transported' here. This bombshell, which on hindsight was quite an oversight, had also been a very important reason as to what the **Roundtable Council **had been established for. That was, the establishment and commencement of trades, and talks between the People of the Land themselves. It also raised important and critical questions of what really was **Seldesha. **

It was wrong for the Adventurers to give up on the hope of returning to their home land**, **but at the same time it was also wrong for them to abuse their power, and ability to the mostly helpless People of the Land as well.

The _founding member_ argued that they were in fact the ones who had intruded into their world, and not the other way around. If abuse was not curtailed, society itself would also crumble, for allowing such abuse to continue was just a step away from it happening between higher level and lower level players.

The People of the Land themselves were not fully helpless, they were still able to achieve the similar powers, skills and the strength of the Adventurers if they trained hard. A common denominator was that they were all compared with the same statistics, their equipment, level, statistics and skill distribution.

However it was also established that the People of the Land themselves had different skill sets, mechanics as well as different growth rates. Added on with the fact that could not use the same method of endless experimentation to challenge stronger monsters like the Adventurers, meant that their growth was severely limited.

There was however, another type of the People of the Land**, **the 古来種 **(Ancient Type) **who for all manners and purpose, were similar to the Adventurers. They possessed similar skills, strengths, and abilities of the Adventurers but were also People of the Land. The theory was that they were mutants, or simply a race of People of the Land that were born out of necessity to combat the scourge of the monsters brought to the world in general.

Like the MMORPG that spawned the world, **Seldesha**, was plagued by monsters that would respawn indefinitely. That was an established fact in the MMORPG that was called a staple, but when that translated into the world of **Seldesha**, that meant that the monsters were a scourge that the normal folk, the People of the Land, were simply unable to handle normally.

When Elder Tales**, **was still a game, the Adventurers would commonly take on quests to hunt down the monsters to help the citizens of the town, one could play the part of a 'hero' or a 'wandering mercenary', where one would repeatedly take the same subjugation quest to accumulate wealth as well as EXP from those quests.

With the 'emergence' of the players turned Adventurers, into **Seldesha**, those roles were ignored, partly due to the confusion as well as the Adventurers' own understanding of the situation. As a result, there had been a large increase of reports of small villages and towns being attacked and raided by monsters, monsters that were supposed to be kept in check by the Adventurers. There was only a limit to what the lower levelled People of the Landcould do after all.

The situation had escalated to a point where a major plot-related quest, which was usually easily dealt with by Adventurers had been neglected, and subsequently turned into a continent wide invasion by goblins, led by a monster adeptly named as the Goblin General.

It was Akihabara and the **Roundtable Council's **first ever decision as a single entity, and subsequently a 'quest' issued to the people they were 'governing'. Their mission, to protect the People of the Land from the scourge of the Goblin Invasion, on the behest of a young Princess; レイネシア=エルアルテ=コーウェン (**Renesha Elard Cowen**), of the 自由都市同盟イースタル(**Istal Free City Alliance**).

The **Istal Free City Alliance** was an alliance that was created, and maintained by the rulers of several large cities belonging to the People of the Land. Princess Renesha was the grand daughter of セルジアッド=コーウェン (**Sergiad Cowen**), one of the established Lords, and the chairman of the **Istal Free City Alliance** itself, but due to her own gender, as well as her upbringing, did not have any say in the political scene.

In her own words, she was simply an empty vessel, a show-piece of nobility, and did not have the same rights or status granted to every Adventurer. As **Seldesha **itself was modelled on a western medieval setting, the concept of monarchy, and even different social classes was quite common in the People of the Land.

As compared to the deeply rooted concept of democracy and free rights within the Adventurers, the values of the People of the Land were a horrible match to the **Roundtable Council** and Akihabara in particular. It was difficult for the two parties to agree on a common ground, or a consensus on the matter regarding the Goblin Invasion.

On one side, the **Istal Free City Alliance** believed that as the Adventurers were immortal, they were indebted, and honor bound to protect the land by default due to the land granting them those abilities to do so. The **Roundtable Council** on the other hand, did not believe they had the same obligation and negotiations were very close to breaking down.

It had been Princess Renesha who had managed to bridge the gap, and allowed the **Roundtable Council** to mobilize, to send, as well as to protect the pride of the Adventurers while saving the People of the Land**,** and the **Istal Free City Alliance** as a side effect.

Due to the successful campaign, the relations between the People of the Land**,** and the Adventurers had been restored quite amicably. The end result was Princess Renesha being appointed as official Ambassador of the **Istal Free City Alliance **to Akihabara to repay the favor that she had asked of the Adventurers.

That role itself was a great coup both by the Adventurersbut to the People of the Land as well due to the various advances in technology as well as knowledge that the Adventurers had with them as they came from a more technologically advanced era then they did.

..

Besides the campaign to crush the Goblin Invasion, there was also another skirmish further out in the continent that helped with the relations of the Adventurers and People of the Land. That was the defence of 銚子町(**Choshi Town**), a small town that was besieged by 魚のサメの (**Shahuagin**) a shark-man type monster. Those monsters swarmed the beaches surrounding **Choshi Town**, and with their higher levels, and sheer superiority in number, meant that the town would be annihilated, and the citizens killed within hours if left unchecked.

That was not even considering the raiding party sent by the Goblin General to raid the town as well.

Incidentally, it happened around the same time Akihabara and the **Roundtable Council **were hosting a summer training camp for the newbies whose levels were below level 40. All of the Council guild members had sent representatives to the summer camp to train the newbies after one of the council members, マリエール (Marielle) the Guild Leader of the Crescent Moon Alliance**, **had mooted the idea to the Council during their inaugural meeting.

Due to the majority of the players in Akihabara being senior players, with over fifty percent of the fifteen thousand Adventurers in Akihabara at the level cap of ninety, there hadn't been the need to train seriously or grind in **Seldesha, **but it was a different case for the newbie players who found the going tough as they were unable to get used to the mechanics, or have access to the best areas to farm for EXP and the like.

Combat was a way of life in **Seldesha, **as it was the easiest way to earn cash for one's daily survival, be it lodging or food. However it was easier said than done, as back when Elder Tales was a game, all the players needed to do was to press and click in order to stimulate 'combat'.

They were in a completely different environment where in order to engage in combat, one who have to actually engage in combat for real. Even if one knows that they would not essential 'die' if they fail, and their HP (Health points), ran out, they would still have to combat the instinctive fear that one would feel when facing a monster. Not to mention that it was actually painful when one was dealt damage, and even if one never truly 'died', one would still experience the experience of 'dying' once.

Facing a weak and defenceless 'monster', like deer, squirrels, and slimes, were nothing compared to facing monsters like Goblins, Feral Wolves, Orcs or Dragons for example. Even the most 'hardened' and high levelled Adventurersneeded some time to get used to combat, as well as to get familiarize themselves with their new body, skills and new point of view when engaged in combat.

But a portion of the players had also forsaken combat and went into the production line, be it with essential services like providing food, repairing equipment, being tradesman or by making potions and armour. It had led to a great change of variety in the shop houses as well as the dynamics within Akihabara as well. Thanks to the **Roundtable Council **being present to deter as well as to enforce the law and order, Akihabara was slowly but surely turning into the most technologically advanced city due to the Adventurer's being used to modern comforts as well, fuelling the need for development of the creature comforts that they were used to.

But that aside, the group of newbie Adventurer'swere caught between the crosshairs of the goblin raiding team as well as the invasion of the shark-men. They knew, like the **Roundtable Council**, that they were in no way obliged to help them if they did not wish to. The Adventurers were 'free' citizens, they were not bounded to the laws that they did not made themselves, even their compliance to the **Roundtable Council** was not mandatory. Even if the People of the Land, tried to stress or to impose on them that with the power they were gifted, and subsequently wielded, they were naturally 'obliged' to help them, the Adventurers were in essence, beings from a different world.

They did not have any obligation to the People of the Land to help them, but the newbie Adventurers offered their help without hesitation, without questioning, and without even being asked. They were new to the 'game', and thus responded for the call for help even without it being actually raised.

That itself was heartening to see, as to the **Roundtable Council**, it meant that their decision to impose law and order for the 'sake' of the people was the right decision. They had decided to gamble on the 'good' in people, overcoming the 'bad' of people, and it had been a successful gamble. If they had failed, there would be no doubt that a few of the Top guilds would have left Akihabara for good.

If the campaign against the Goblin Invasion was nothing short of a rout of the goblins, the defence of **Choshi Town **was anything but that. It was partly due to the sheer numbers that the newbie Adventurers were going against, as well as the Adventurersthemselves for the difficulty.

By default, their levels were still lower than the Shark-men, and even if they were still stronger than the villagers of **Choshi Town**, they still struggled to take the monsters down. Taking into account that they were still unused to combat as their more experienced counterparts who were much more high levelled and experienced, it was tough going. The battle ground was also severely spread apart, due to the Shark-men's spawning spot to be an entire stretch of beach.

The higher level, and more experienced Adventurers were thus stretched thin, and if not for the enthusiasm and courage of the newbies, the line would not have held as well as it did till reinforcements arrived.

However, both campaigns were very successful, and the **Istal Free City Alliance, **their respective cities, as well as **Choshi Town, **was successfully spared from destruction.

This brings us back to the City of Akibahara, barely a week after the two campaigns, within the Guild House of the Guild: **Log Horizon**.

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The Guild **Log Horizon, **was it really called a Guild? There were only seven members in the guild and with that size, it barely considered to be a full-fledged party. As half the members were at the level cap of 90, and the others were in the 20s-30s, it was difficult to imagine how the Guild was formed in the first place. However, the members of **Log Horizon** was happy to keep it this way as all of them joined the guild due to the founding member, the 腹ぐろ眼鏡 (**Sinister Shades),** Shiroe.

Shiroe was most well known as the strategist in several landmark and legendary battles, and had the misfortune to be called with that title due to his seemingly underhanded methods to obtain victory when Elder Tales was still a game. He was however, a masterful strategist even though he was playing in a unpopular class, and had reached the level cap despite refusing to join up with a guild.

That title and mantle has been expanded and firmed up in **Seldesha** due to his role in forming the **Roundtable Council** and his strategy in defeating, and routing the Goblin Invasion. Despite **Log Horizon** being initially formed for the operation to form the **Roundtable Council**, Shiroe was glad to have all their current members with him, making it his second home away from home.

But first, an introduction to the guild proper:

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The _founding member**, **_and level 90 Enchanter,Shiroe.

The second founding member, the level 90 Assassin, Akatsuki.

The third founding member, the level 90 Guardian, Naotsugu

The fourth founding member, the level 90 Swashbuckler, Nyanta

The fifth member, the level 35 Samurai, Toya.

The sixth member, the level 28 Shaman, Minori and finally,

The seventh and final member, the level 37 Black Mage, ルンデルハウス=コード(**Lundhaz Code Rundelhouse).**

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..

The guild headquarters of Log Horizon was situated in an abandoned complex a short walk to the north part of Akihabara, it was remote enough to ensure some privacy, but not far enough to make entering Akihabara a chore. As an added plus, the rent was quite reasonable as well considering the size of the complex.

It needed some fixing up, but since the members themselves were quite laid back by nature, they were currently happy just tidying up the first two floors of the complex. There was a long way to go if they wanted to fix the place up for winter, but that did not mean that they needed to hire a maid specifically to clean the place, right?

'Erm, Nathiru-san...'

Minori, the lowest levelled individual within the Guild itself asked the maid timidly even as she watched the maid, Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir continue patching up the holes in the complex. To be honest, she was more than apprehensive for Nathiru was not only older than her; she was of a higher level than her as well.

That was also not considering how Nathiru had played a crucial part in saving her and many of the newbies during their defence of **Choshi** **Town**. She, Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir had lent her powers to all the Adventurers in **Choshi Town** when they had needed it most, and with her spells and abilities, was able to fend off the biggest wave of Goblin Raider without any causalities.

It was also during that particular skirmish that Minori found out that Nathiru was not an Adventurer**,** she was one of the People of the Land,a very high levelled Bard who had a different set of skills than an **Adventurer** would have as a Bard.

The telling signs were when she activated her skills, she would actually be singing them out loud, and would also thus be rendered almost ineffective if not for her skill with her bow, taking out her own share of goblins by herself.

From how Nathiru despatched the goblins with relative ease despite being a bard, the lack of fear on the battle front as well as how she was able to turn the entire battle field by re-shuffling the order of the defensive front, it was obvious that besides being high levelled, she was very experienced as well as powerful.

Thus, Minori's own unwillingness as well as disbelief in seeing her senior in so many ways, there really wasn't any other way to describe her, serve them in such a humble manner.

'Yes, Minori-sama.'

Nathiru quickly hid the hammer and nails she was using to fix the holes to give Minori a picture perfect curtsey that she really, really shouldn't do, not for her!

'Is there anything that you needed, Minori-sama?'

Nathiru repeated patiently, her voice carefully controlled but nonetheless cheerful even as she smiled at Minori.

'A-Ah, no... Y-Yes, I mean... would Nathiru-san please join us for breakfast?'

Minori was once again caught flat-footed by Nathiru and she squeaked her reply even as she bowed to the older woman in front of her.

'I thank you for the invitation, Minori-sama, but, a maid should not join the master and mistresses for breakfast. I sincerely apologize, but such an honour is simply beyond mine to accept.'

Nathiru refused the request with the same refined smile that she showed Minori the first time they met, and that left Minori unable to rebut her words, despite how outrageous they were.

Thankfully for Minori, she was joined by reinforcements who couldn't quite accept the way Nathiru was behaving and treating all of them.

The sad and stressful part was that Nathiru wasn't even officially accepted as a maid here in Log Horizon, she more or less forced herself into the role, something that was causing the Guild Master, Shiroe, no small amount of headaches.

'Nathiru-san, would you please join us for breakfast?'

The boy who entered the room was **Lundhaz Code Rundelhouse, **a dark mage that had recently joined Log Horizon due to unique circumstances. Even as he smiled at Minori, nudging her to get even more reinforcements to help, he tried to persuade Nathiru to drop her duties to join them for breakfast.

'Nathiru-san, we would just like to have breakfast together, as fellow guild members and as friends. Please, why don't you drop the formalities as well as your role, and let us enjoy a delightful breakfast together?'

Lundhaz himself knew that it was a lost cause; this was the third day that they had tried to persuade Nathiru to drop the maid role, and to be one of their comrades again.

Sure, the sequence of events that had resulted in Nathiru taking this role was odd, even odder than what had happened for him to become part of Log Horizon. But to be so dedicated to being a maid, well, that was something that he did not know how to wrap his mind around.

'I thank you for your invitation, as well as your sentiments, Lundhaz-sama, but as I told Minori-sama before, we servants would shame our lords if we share the same table, please, do enjoy breakfast and do not mind me.'

Nathiru gave Lundhaz a smile before returning to her assigned 'duties', at least she tried to till the Guild master, Shiroe himself stepped into the room. Flanking him was his ever faithful companion, the assassin Akatsuki.

'Nathiru-san...'

Shiroe gave a long suffering sigh at the sight of Nathiru giving him her customary curtsey, him feeling a headache growing from staying up late last night.

'Nathiru-san, I already agreed to your request, but before we make this a formal agreement... could you please stop behaving in that way? Naotsugu… was probably kidding.'

'In what way, Guild Master-sama, I am merely fulfilling my role and duty as the maid of the Guild.'

Nathiru answered with a big smile even as Shiroe felt another headache growing.

..

'Ahhh... She's still at it.'

Even as Shiroe crossed his arms in exasperation at the sight of Nathiru going back to her duties of fixing the floor boards, Shiroe's best friend, the ever reliable guardian, Naotsugu, walked into the room as well.

'Baka Naotsugu, this is all your fault.'

Before Naotsugu could react, Akatsuki had landed a flying knee into the poor guardian's nose, causing him to stagger backwards a few steps before finding himself being steadied from behind by his disciple, Toya.

'Master, are you alright?'

'S-Somehow... Toya, when the day comes that you were able to block an attack from this chibi here, is the day that you would have homed the best reflexes in the world.'

'Ooohh! I'll do my best, Master!

'Milord, Naotsugu was being an idiot and I took liberty to remind him of that fact.'

Even as Akatsuki reported to Shiroe about her initiative, causing him to dryly deadpan at the reoccurring act between the two of them, Naotsugu on the other hand was wearily rubbed his nose while speaking to Toya instead.

Chaos was prevented from developing as the last member of Log Horizon, Nyanta called out from the corridor together with Minori.

'Let's just have breakfast in that room nya~ If we wait even longer, the food will get cold nya~'

* * *

..

Due to her courageous actions in the defence of **Choshi Town**, as well as her assistance given to the Adventurers**, **the bard Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir had been invited back along with the Adventurers to take part in the celebrations that would be held due to the successful campaign.

She had accepted, but she had spent the time hiding away from prying eyes together with the newbie Adventurers who she had helped during the skirmish.

The Adventurersthemselves were unsure how to make of her weird behaviour, but they were polite enough to at least not pry into her business. Some of the higher levelled Adventurers who had seen her in action had even tried to invite her to join their guild, but she had rejected every one of them politely.

At least, until she approached Minori, Toya, Naotsugu and Nyanta when they were about to leave for Akihabara.

_.._

_'Please, I would like to speak to your guild leader. Would he be able to grant me an audience?'_

..

Unfortunately for Nathiru, the campaign to crush the Goblin Invasion wasn't fully resolved yet.

And as the appointed strategist of the campaign, Shiroe was still busy and engaged with the flow of information, the troop distribution, as well as the assignment of the follow up, after action review and many other tasks to ensure that the proper lessons could be drawn from this campaign.

He was the _founding member_ of the **Roundtable Council **after all, and he had the obligation as well as the responsibility to do his job well.

The guild members, knowing that it would be a few days till Shiroe would be back, had asked Nathiru about the matter which she seek to speak with Shiroe about. However, the bard had refused point black to reveal her intentions, saying that it was a sensitive issue.

However, due to her being unable to gain access to the teleportation spell that would return all of them to town; she was one of the People of the Land and thus couldn't cast that particular spell.

All of them had to escort Nathiru back to Akihabara. It wasn't that it was a chore to do so, but the fact that she was one of the People of the Land**, **made the trip a little awkward for they didn't know how to interact with her. It wasn't uncommon for the common villagers to look up to the Adventurers due to their higher level, but it was very unnerving for the two Level 90 Adventurers, Naotsugu and Nyanta to not feel a little cautious of this Bard that suddenly asked for a meeting with Shiroe.

The two of them knew Shiroe's capabilities, but despite his achievements and abilities, he was rarely truly acknowledged or recognized for the feats that he had performed. That said, it was also very rare for a People of the Land to reach a very high level. If Naotsugu was to gauge, for he had been on the front lines with her, he estimated that Nathiru's level was at least in the higher 80s, if not at the level cap of 90. The two of them had their suspicions that Nathiru was one of the **Ancient Type **of the People of the Land**, **that would dwarf and even compete against the Adventurersthemselves.

The lore of Elder Tales had described the sheer strength and abilities of the **Ancient Type**, and many adventurers had at least heard of their exploits throughout the game's lore. They were the heroes that heroes look up to.

Every adventurer would also have taken quests that would enable them to pick up relics of the **Ancient Types**, many of them legendary or mythic level artifacts. That showed that the **Ancient Type** were powerful, so why was one of them looking for their Guild leader?

..

'Ahem, my name is Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir, I am, as many of you would know, one of the People of the Land. However, I would like to clarify that I am one of the イズモ騎士団(**Izumo Knights).**'

As Nathiru introduced herself to Shiroe together with the rest of the Guild, her introduction was enough to cause everyone to freeze.

The **Izumo Knights** were one of the thirteen knight orders that were responsible to safeguard the People of the Land from invasion and large scaled attacks from the monsters. They also comprise entirely of the **Ancient Type, **meaning that they were able to achieve things that Adventurers could only dream of. In essence, they were like GMs (Game Moderators) with immense power to stop any horde from harming the balance of the game. The Thirteen Knight Orders existed to keep the balance between the People of the Land and the monsters, and for the game's sake, to ensure that any event would not go out of order.

The **Izumo Knights** was the Knight Order within the Japanese Server, but from their knowledge, the entire **Izumo Knights** had gone missing. So why was one of their members here today?

Shiroe was the first to regain his composure even as his mind started running through the different possibilities that this conversation could lead into as he revealed that he already knew about the disappearance of the **Izumo Knights**.

'The **Istal Free Alliance** had revealed to us that the **Izumo Knights** had gone missing, are you really part of the **Izumo Knights,** Nathiru-san?'

Shiroe's question made Nathiru nod before she requested permission to join in the party with Shiroe, or with any members of Log Horizon.

'You would be able to check my race, as well as my level. You will believe me then.'

Nathiru's answer was reasonable, and what Shiroe saw on the status screen was enough for him to wince.

'You're... a level 100 Bard?'

* * *

..

The level cap within Elder Tales before the twelfth update was up to Level 90, and as with every new update, it was tradition for the limit cap to be lifted. In this case, the consensus was the possibility that it would be lifted to level 100.

Since there were guilds who were trying to break the mythical barrier of level 90, Shiroe knew that it was only a matter of time before that theory was proven. He himself was not in a hurry to reach the next level, there were tons of things to do, things to research as well as to investigate. Besides, for players who reached level 90 like themselves, they were destined to only gain EXP from monsters who are around 5 levels lower then themselves, and that meant they had to challenge monsters who were level 85 or above.

Shiroe's team-mates had trained extensively with each other over the past few months, and all of them were very familiar with each other and their own capabilities. In theory, all of them could form quite a decent small size raid party to grind some EXP, but it would prove to be severely draining on their resources with very limited gain on their side.

The large raid guilds had not reported on any real signs of success so far, none of them managing to fight on the same level as they would when Elder Tales was a game, and thus to be able to see a Level 100 player, even if it's a support character, as well as being an **Ancient Type**, was still a shock.

Once again, Shiroe recovered first even as he noticed that the younger members of the guild had turned as white as sheet, Minori cupping her hands over her mouth while the boys simply looked uncomfortable and nervous.

Shiroe was relieved to see that his team mates from the _Tea-Party_ days had regained their cool just as easily as well. Naotsugu was retained that cheerful smile even as he started fidgeting with his shield. Nyanta however was eyeing Nathiru speculatively. The individual who was the most shaken was Akatsuki, who had stepped one step closer to Shiroe, her hands no doubt preparing her knives even as Shiroe cleared his throat.

'So you were part of the **Izumo Knights. **Could you fill us with what happened? And... why did you approach me?'

None of the Adventurers had ever seen, or mad contact with the Knight Orders, this was certainly their very first encounter with one of the **Ancient Type**.

'You are Shiroe, one of the few **Grand Sorcerers** amongst the Adventurers, just as how all of you had heard of our legend, we too, have heard of the elite 放蕩者の茶会（デボーチェリ・ティーパーティー(**Debauchery Tea Party)**. Would you lend me your help?'

* * *

..

'I see, so you are the _Panties Warrior_, Naotsugu of the _tea-party?_ That must mean you must be the _Class President, _Nyanta. I apologize for not recognizing the two of you. The two of you have starred in many of the _Tea-Party's_ battles as well, I am honored that I am able to see two legends like yourself in active duty.'

Nathiru politely gave Naotsugu and Nyanta a bow before turning her attention to Shiroe again.

'So you know of the _Tea-Party?_ That is a surprise, please forgive us, but we do not know that... news travel that fast.'

Shiroe tried to cover up the shock that he felt from having his 'legend' being named not once, but twice. He had been told of his 'legend' and title by another researcher, リ=ガン (**Lee Gan**) during the leaders retreat held by the **Istal Free City Alliance**. But to think that those stories had been spread to the **Izumo Knights** as well. It was also embarrassing to know that they were elevated that much as well.

Shiroe's first impression of Nathiru was a very straight, polite and serious woman. As Shiroe was 23 years of age, he couldn't call himself as a teen any more, but Nathiru was definitely older than her for she appeared to be a woman of around thirty years of age.

Like almost all the People of the Land, she was of the human race, with a petite figure and surprisingly normal brown hair, which she held with a side pony-tail.

The only thing that both separated and blended her with the normal villagers was her dress and clothing's. Her clothes were simple things, a cloak with cheap leather armour and accessories that could be bought or made by newbie players. It was not fitting of her level, which was a dead giveaway considering the weapon that she wielded.

It was the Bow of Hrunting a mythical bow that could only be equipped by individuals who were level 85 and above. In order to obtain that bow, one had to go through the raid, **Hunt of Nibelihiem, **and since it was a mythical level weapon, it could only be gained by being the one who obtained the last attack bonus.

..

'Shiroe-san gives yourself too little credit, the feats that the _tea-party_ has achieved is nothing to scoff at. I assure you, that the honor is all mine.'

Nathiru gave her another smile while surveying the entire place again, her almond colored eyes rested on Akatsuki before she tilted her head in confusion.

'And... if I may be so rude, may I know who she is?'

Nathiru gestured to Akatsuki, who reacted by jumping a little and turning to Shiroe for his guidance. Akatsuki had always been a little shy, especially to strangers. But Shiroe knew that it was also partly due to Henrietta, the accountant and secretary of the Crescent Moon Alliance who had caused Akatsuki to be wary of females.

Having been subjected to hours of playing dressing up with a room full of excitable female fans was enough to cause the normally composed assassin to be more than a little flustered and wary.

'Ah, she is Akatsuki, one of the guild members. She wasn't part of the _Tea Party_. But I can vouch for her strength.'

Shiroe answered for Akatsuki, who seemed to realize that Nathiru did not mean any harm, and she bowed to her politely as well.

'Nathiru-san, I am Akatsuki, Shiroe-dono's ninja.'

Akatsuki answered with a straight face even as Shiroe smiled helplessly at her introduction.

'And I guess you had met the other three before, seeing that you had participated in the Defence of **Choshi Town**.'

'Yes, I have. The party that the three of them belonged to was exceptional; I am very impressed by their team work together. Most importantly, I am honoured to witness the bond of camaraderie that had been formed between all of them. But it is to be expected, after all, Minori-san was a very impressive field leader, if not for the fact that all of you were exhausted from your earlier skirmish, it would not have resulted in the loss of **Lundhaz-san **in that particular battle.'

Nathiru's words made some of the guild members freeze in shock, the members being Shiroe, Lundhaz himself, Minori as well as Toya.

Had Nathiru witnessed the most important and probably game-breaking act that had been done by Shiroe? The very same act that had caused Lundhaz to be part of **Log Horizon, **and would also change how everyone viewed the world in general.

'You, saw what happened then?'

Shiroe whispered softly, and the change in tone made his team-mates tense, and all of them watched on tersely as Shiroe adjusted his glasses to study Nathiru closely again.

'I did, and I am here to request a favor from you, **Great Sorceror**, Shiroe, please, lend me your strength to avenge my fellow members of the **Izumo Knights.**'

..

* * *

**Author's Notes: Definitely the longest first chapter I ever wrote, but tell me your thoughts and comments.**

**There, I fixed most of the terminology to fit with the official English translations**


	2. A Request

Recommencement of Time

**Chapter 2: A Request**

..

Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon**

* * *

**Author's Notes: There's no beta here. and I made the crucially weak mistake that made me forget to do an introduction to all of the characters in more detail. I'll cover that in the next chapter, I promise!**

**Edit: 08/10/13**

**Like Chapter 1, I'm doing a touch up of this Chapter as well! Thanks for the support and understanding.**

* * *

..

'I did, and I am here to request a favor from you, **Great Sorceror**, Shiroe, please, lend me your strength to avenge my fellow members of the **Izumo Knights.**'

Nathiru's words made all the members of Log Horizon pause again, it was not that they did not understand what Nathiru meant, but what she was asking was simply ridiculous, to avenge the **Izumo Knights**? The **Izumo Knights** were reputedly the strongest force in **Seldesha, **a force of Knights that would make D.D.D, the strongest and most experienced Raid Guild in Akihabara pale in comparison.

However, those thoughts were only shared by the more experienced players in the guild. The newbies, Toya, Minori and **Lundhaz** simply looked at each other in confusion, probably not understanding why their more experienced seniors wore grim looks on their faces.

'Let me reiterate your request, Nathiru-san, you are implying that the **Izumo Knights** were all killed?'

Shiroe spoke slowly, trying to look for any changes in Nathiru's expression as he tried to clarify the situation. Shiroe did get a reaction, but not the one that he was expecting. Nathiru showed a pained expression, briefly swallowed before she nodded in affirmative.

'As far as I can ascertain, yes, the entire **Izumo Knights** were... indeed killed.'

Her words made another awkward silence descend on the group before Shiroe tapped a finger on Akatsuki's arm, causing her to look up in surprise before receiving a private PM(private message) from Shiroe as he had quickly manipulated his status screen below the table with his fingers.

As she listened to the private conversation which no one else was privy to despite being in the same room, Akatsuki nodded before leaving his side, and subsequently the room as well to prepare for what Shiroe wanted her to prepare on his behalf.

'… I understand, could you tell us more details about this incident? It is difficult for me to risk my guild, for a situation as vague as that. I do apologize for this selfish request, Nathiru-san... and I am sorry for your loss.'

Shiroe offered Nathiru a small bow; even as the other members of the Guild Members followed his example.

It was only natural, even if the **Ancient Types** were beings of immense power, even dwarfing the Adventurers with their skills and abilities, they were still essentially similar to the People of the Land, they died when their HP reaches zero, and if a revival skill was not attempt immediately on their death, they were essential lost.

For all of their strength, they were unlike Adventurers, who did not have to fear death. Instead, they had to face the prospects of immortality, something that was just as frightening, even if those implications did not reflect themselves just yet. It was rift for abuse, and... there was something else that would be lost when Adventurers die, something so trivial, and yet so important that the **Roundtable Council **was unable to reveal to the Adventurers just yet.

'Thank you for your condolences, Shiroe-san, everyone. Where shall I begin... Shiroe-san?'

Nathiru blinked when Shiroe shook his head, instead getting up and stating that all of them would be moving to another location for now before they hear her out.

'That is only if you are comfortable with sharing this information with the others as well, Nathiru-san?'

Nathiru seemed conflicted at Shiroe's polite offer, before she shook her head and replied.

'It is a painful memory, but yes, if it is limited only to the company here, I am willing to share my tale. This is a confidential matter, and besides my initial request for help, there is another request that I would ask of you.'

'Please speak, Nathiru-san.'

'… I am a Knight of the **Izumo Knights**, Shiroe-san. As a Knight, I am honor bound to my fellow knights, as well as my commander. Even... even if he might be lost, I have broken the first role of the **Knighthood**. We, as a whole, are not allowed to interact with the Adventurers or even the People of the Land, on the grounds of death. It is an order that has been passed down since the formation of the knights.

We, as one of the order of knights who defends and maintain the order of the world, are to be a neutral party, we are to never take sides, to never seek assistance, and to accomplish our mission despite any adversity that might be in our paths. As a Knight, and was one of those in command, I have failed in both our mission, as well as broken the first law in seeking you out, Shiroe-san.'

Nathiru's words were filled with conviction, and it was that impression that made Shiroe wince a little as he nodded in understanding. He had expected that, and he was grateful that he had only prepared a more private room for them to speak freely. Their guild itself was small and Shrioe trusted all of his guild members with his life, but their guild headquarters was set to 'Open', which meant that anyone could walk into the guild and to eavesdrop on their conversation.

As Shiroe was the guild leader of Log Horizon**, **and was part of the **Roundtable Council**, there would logically be many members of the other guilds who wanted to speak to him, and it made sense for him to allow them access to the Guild at all times.

Only now it was more of an inconvenience. Shiroe felt a throbbing on the back of his head, this was turning out to be more troublesome than he had thought when he heard that a high leveled member of the People of the Land was seeking to speak with him.

'Nathiru-san, why have you told us so much? If you are bound by honor to not make any contact with anyone else; why do you specially seek me out?'

Shiroe was also feeling more than a little wary of the woman in front of him. She was obviously hiding a lot of things from him. It was partly due to how they had a distinct and disturbing lack of _any_ information about the **Izumo Knights** or any of the Knighthoods that Nathiru spoke of. Shiroe knew that they existed, but they had always been an enigma to the players of **Elder Tales**. They simply had no information on hand to cross-reference Nathiru's words, it was only by sheer luck that Princess Renesha had let it slip that the **Izumo Knights** were missing.

'… I wish for you to hide my identity, Shiroe-san. It is my belief, and with great sadness that I admit that the **Izumo Knights** are no more, perhaps the entire Knighthood is no more, that I seek your strength and assistance. But that is wrong, as the final **Izumo Knight**, I am honor bound to keep that tradition alive for as long as I can. So, please, hide my identity, Shiroe-san. Only with that, could I truly seek to avenge my fellow Knights, and if they were to be still alive, I shall then be able to keep their honor. It is a selfish request, Shiroe-san, I am abandoning my duties, as well as my honor for this single, selfish act that might not even be granted.'

Nathiru lowered her head even as Shiroe pieced together her dilemma, she was at crossroads, her pride and honor making it impossible for her to officially and formally seek for assistance, but she herself knew that it was impossible for her to be able to accomplish this fact by herself.

This explained her wish to keep herself hidden till she could accomplish that dream. It was a practical and pragmatic plan, only like it was what she said, she was only concerned with herself, and not about them as well as the fallen. It would be incredibly reckless and incredibly naïve if she thought that he would accept her terms so easily.

'… We would only do that after we hear what happened, Nathiru-san. What you are requesting is possible, and is definitely within the realms of our ability. However, until we have all the facts, as well as the details of your request, it is unreasonable for you to expect any cooperation from my end.'

Shiroe pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose even as Nyanta nodded in appreciation of his words. Naotsugu on the other hand, simply grinned at him. It was just as expected of the **Sinister Shades**, to keep all his cards to himself while forcing the others to reveal theirs.

'Minori, could you come with us? Toya, **Lundhaz**, take good care of the guild on our absence. Please take messages on my behalf.'

Shiroe decided on his party members before leading Nathiru out to the private room that Akatsuki had rented for their use.

* * *

..

'So when you returned back to your headquarters, the entire **Izumo Knights** was gone?'

Shiroe had difficult believing that, for the **Izumo Knights** wouldn't have gone down without putting up a fight, well, at least without telling one of their commanders at least. Nathiru was a commander of one of the platoons within the Knight Order themselves, and she had left the Order to tend to some personal business for a few days before she had returned to the Order by herself.

She had been delayed from returning due to reports of the Goblin Invasion, which had started a few months back. Also, unlike Adventurers, who were able to send private messages, and to keep friend lists to track the status of their friends, the **Ancient Type** didn't have those convenient skills that they did.

It was one of those things that the Adventurers had taken for granted, and was partly why they were able to mobilize and to gather their troops so easily. Not to mention information gathering and reporting, with the ability to send messages and to even speak in real-time to others over long distances meant that they immediately had an advantage over everyone else in that regard.

'Yes, there were no signs of a struggle, the stables themselves were untouched. Whatever happened to the **Izumo Knights **was not natural. If the Knights were mobilized, they would have sent the summons at least a day earlier, even in the case of emergencies, we would have sent scouts or a front party head, before the main force would reinforce their positions after resupplying. For the entire knighthood to mobilize is unheard of. That was when I knew something was amiss.'

Nathiru bit her lip as she described what she had done; she had gone through all the living quarters within the barracks for any clues. The armoury of the **Izumo Knights **had all their weapons gone as well, but it was not ransacked. It was as if the entire inventory was taken out, distributed while the spares were offloaded somewhere.

There was absolutely nothing left of the Knights, even the Knight's Emblem, which had endorsed the top of their hidden facility, was missing. The Emblem was a sign of pride for the Knights, as it symbolized their oath to protect the balance of the world. With its removal, their headquarters felt wrong, like it did not exist. It was as if, the entire Knighthood had just been an illusion.

But that wasn't true, for she still had the emblem with her, even if she was not wearing it right now; it was her emblem, her last tie to the **Izumo Knights**.

'It is as if they simply disappeared.'

Shiroe summarized for her, and Nathiru nodded in agreement. It had been difficult for her to recount the events of the **Izumo Knights** disappearance, but once she had, she found herself having more questions than answers; she... wanted to know, what had happened. And Nathiru knew that Shiroe could provide those answers, if it was the **Grand Sorcerer** who had done the impossible, it was possible.

'… Do you mind if we make a trip to the headquarters to verify for ourselves?'

Nathiru did not expect that, and the bard simply looked at him in shock as Shiroe rubbed his chin contemplatively.

'It matches with what we have heard from Princess Renesha, but it would be better if we could verify your claims personally. There might be things that you have missed out. Who knows it might even lead to new leads as well.'

Shiroe was already methodically going through what was available to him, sorting and sifting through what he had learnt from Nathiru for further analysis later on. It all seemed too simple, but at times, the simple things were the hardest to answer as well.

For instance, Shiroe would suggested that the **Izumo Knights **had simply used a mass teleportation spell to relocate, but that would not have made sense as well.

Nathiru had said that she had only been gone for two days. It would be almost impossible for all of them to prepare for such a move in such a small time frame. Especially since the Knighthood itself consisted of at least five thousand members. To issue out all the weapons, to get rid of the spares, to remove every single personal item belonging to all of them was really quite a stretch.

To do that without informing one of their commanders, who was in charge of at least around twenty men, was nothing of incredible.

At least Nathiru was truthful when she said that it was impossible, but that was the only thing that Shiroe agreed with him. Even if the Bard in front of him had been truthful to him so far, as well as being an exceptional asset that had helped the entire **Roundtable Council **tremendously, she was also someone that was virtually unknown to all of them.

She declared herself as part of the **Izumo Knights**, but had no proof to back her up. She wasn't an Adventurer as the status screen certainly verified that, and to top all of that, she was a level 100 Bard. All those factors made Shiroe felt uneasy about the situation.

He had never really been a good judge of character, his preferred way of determining one's motives was going through the actions of that particular individual, analysing and determining his reasons for making such actions would serve as a guide to their character.

The _Class President_, Nyanta, and his senior in the _Tea-Party_ was a much better judge of character than he was, and Nyanta had been the one who had advised and persuaded him to form Log Horizon in the first place. If not, he would no doubt still be stuck with a simple party with Naotsugu and Akatsuki. Sometimes he was really a dense idiot.

But in these circumstances, Shiroe wanted to both trust as well as to distrust Nathiru, there was simply nothing to gain, and everything to lose. It could be a ploy for them to start an incident with the **Izumo Knights**, if that was the case, he would be the one responsible for causing Akihabara to be a target of one of the strongest forces in **Seldesha.** Even if they were practically immortal, the prospects were simply too bleak to ignore.

The implications themselves were too large for him to decide on a whim, and since he was a member of the **Roundtable Council, **he was responsible for the actions of the City as a whole.

'I am a member of the **Roundtable Council**, Nathiru-san. The incident that you have told us is something of grave importance to the City of Akihabara, to us Adventurers as well as perhaps the entire world as well. We... or rather, I cannot risk any of my guild members to take on such a risk without verifying your information.

Please, accept my apologies on behalf of my guild in suspecting you, but as a commander, you must be aware of the implications of false intelligence.'

Shiroe withheld nothing back as he looked at the fellow commander; there was no doubt in his mind that she occupied a similar role to his. A commander could take different roles; one was that of the attacking lead, using his own innate strength to set the tone of the attack, the other was that of one who would coordinate attacks from the mid or back lines. In Elder Tales, there were only two true supporter roles, the Bard as well as the Enchanter. The Healing classes were considered an 'active' role as they would be actively within the front lines, supporting the attack forces as much as they could.

The Support classes on the other hand, were there to help their team-mates with skills that activated passively through their skills, or with skills that helped their team-mates with a set duration. At lower levels or small skirmishes it was hard for parties to take advantage of the benefits of the supporter classes, but with long battles, larger skirmishes that were the norm for higher level battles, they really showed their worth.

Being a bard, and no doubt blessed with skills that were different from the usual Bard class for Adventurers, Shiroe had no doubt that she was in a similar role that he was currently playing.

He was the Analyst and strategist of the **Roundtable Council**, a role that made him feel like he was just a pencil pusher, but it was also true that he was the most suited for it.

It was his hope that by being upfront with Nathiru, she would do the same to him as well.

'...sigh'

Nathiru gave a grimace as she digested Shiroe's words, that were to be expected, and she was glad that at least he was decisive with his actions.

'Please, have a look at this then.'

Nathiru fumbled with her inventory before pulling it out, and displaying a cloak on the table for everyone to see.

'This is the emblem of the **Izumo Knights**, and my proof that I am indeed a member of the Knights.'

Everyone present simply stared at the detailed brooch that was fastened on the front of the cloak.

'If you go through the archives of the library in Akihabara regarding the history of **Seldesha**, you should be able to match it with those historical accounts. I... would also lead you to our abandoned headquarters... would that be all that you would need?'

Nathiru gave Shiroe a withering smile as she surrendered to the inevitable.

'There is one last thing that I would want to ask you, Nathiru-san.'

'Please, ask away, Shiroe-san.'

'Why do you seek me specifically? You could have spoken with クラスティ(**Craste)**, he is the official leader of the **Roundtable Council** after all, with his influence, you would be able to raise this to the Council directly.'

It seems that Shiroe was uncertain of why Nathiru had seek him out, if he had seen what he had done to **Landhuz**, that was one thing, but it was also true that **Craste **and the other guilds had more ways to obtain information than he did. Even if he was called a legend, he was sure that **Craste** alongside his guild, **D.D.D, **was the originator of more stories as well.

'Yes, Lord **Craste **and the **D.D.D, **had their own of legends, their Guild was one of the most pronounce amongst you Adventurers after all, but I would not wish to burden them, or to be seen as an unknown factor within the ranks of **D.D.D**.

The political as well as psychological ramifications of my level, as well as my class and race would have created a stir within **D.D.D. **I do not wish to be the cause of any escalation in training due to my presence. Lastly, my request would be for you to turn me into an Adventurer**,** just like how you did to **Lundhaz Code Rundelhouse**. That is my... most important request.'

Shiroe groaned audibly even as Nathiru's eyes did not even waver from his reaction. He had the feeling this was what she wanted, and he gave her a small half grin even as he scratched his head in annoyance.

'You don't mince your words do you, Nathiru-san.'

'I learned from the best.'

Nathiru's words made Shiroe sigh before he turned to his fellow Guild Members, most of them still absorbing or trying to make sense of the entire situation by themselves, mostly failing too.

'I guess we'll have to cancel our appointments for the next few weeks. We'll be heading out to verify Nathiru-san's claims.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: And I think it's more than a little ironic that I'm writing for SAO as well. All of the concepts are linked though, so there's that! Similarities could be drawn between the two SAO fics I am doing, and this one.**


	3. Mindsets

Recommencement of Time

**Chapter 3: Mindsets**

..

Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon**

* * *

**Author's Notes: And we are _one_ week away from the start of Log Horizon. Honestly, I'm not hedging too much hope for it to be awesome, but let's drink to that!**

**I got a beta for this chapter: Thank you _Kurizon_ for the beta!**

**Once the first episode comes out, I'll start revising the terms I used before with my slipshod translation.**

* * *

..

It was late in the evening; around half a day had passed since Shiroe-san, the Grand Sorcerer, had granted her an audience. Nathiru respected the Tea-Party, they were a group of Adventurers that had been able to conquer and defeat an entire legion of high level undead monsters for the Elf King after all - amongst other notable deeds, and legends.

It wasn't an ordeal to be taken lightly. The legion of undead was commanded by the horrifying Necromatic Dark Lord, which was capable of indefinitely summoning small minions, and mobs in terrifyingly large amounts.

It wasn't that the mobs were unkillable, they simply spawned too fast - in overwhelming quantities that made it such a challenge for the party or guild that tried to participate in a raid.

The Dark Lord itself wasn't a pushover either, having the ability to cast devastatingly powerful fire, ice and wind spells, which covered the entire spectrum of elemental attacks.

During the last phase of the raid, where either he had his HP knocked down to the last quarter, or when the battle had gone on for around half an hour - it would switch to a more offensive role, attacking and wielding it's staff against the invaders.

It might seem to be much easier to defeat in theory, but with each successful hit, a quarter the amount it dealt would be restored.

It was a terrifying mission, one that took place in the sealed crypts that kept the Dark Lord from escaping.

They themselves, the _Izumo Knights_ had crushed the attempted uprising of the Dark Lord more times than they could count, but their attempts were always done with the support of three whole squadrons, meaning at least forty individuals for that particular mission. The Dark Lord and it's army wasn't a simple pushover, even for themselves.

But the _Tea Party_ had been able to accomplish that feat with around half that amount, and to crush that uprising with half the time that was usually needed for Adventurerparties.

..

There were of course, other groups of Adventurers who were able to accomplish that feat, like the guilds: _D.D.D_ and _Dark Sword Knights_ for example, but they usually accomplished that with the same number of Adventurers that the Izumo Knights needed. Even if the two groups had accomplished that feat multiple of times, their accomplishments paled in comparison to the achievement made in the single time the Tea Party took on the mission. Case in point, only the Tea Party had succeeded on their first try.

The facts spoke for themselves, the Tea Party was a formidable group of individuals, and even if they had separated for at least a few years, that didn't mean that individually they were weak. They had to be strong individually for them to even think about challenging the Dark Lord and it's army.

Despite all the respect she had for the Tea Party, Nathiru could not help but feel more than a little helpless and frustrated at being swept into a political war-zone once again. She had specifically wanted to avoid this, hence how she stubbornly wanted to speak with Shiroe-san directly instead of approaching the **_Round-table Council_** by herself, but it seemed that her request, even if it was taken at point value and accepted by Log Horizon as a whole, was something that needed to be discussed within the guild itself.

Nathiru did not fault them for that, she just felt tired. And anxious, and desperate. All of those emotions together made her more than a little cranky, and distracted.

It was like what she had felt when she had found her entire squadron gone, her family and friends – gone. They had disappeared. Vanished into thin air. She didn't want to remember that, but she couldn't forget that as well. For it was exactly those feelings that kept her going from that day onwards.

She had to know, why, why did they have to die? Why did they disappear? Why didn't they tell her, or leave her anything? Why had it happened so quickly, why didn't they fight back? Why did it had to happen? Was it her fault? Was it something she could have prevented? Why did she survive, she didn't deserve to survive, right? Did they decide to leave her because they couldn't trust her? Was there reason behind them leaving her behind? Was it her fault then? Did anything matter at all now?

..

So absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't realize that she was unconsciously gripping onto the arm of the chair she was sitting on so tightly that she was leaving marks on it by accident.

'Sigh.'

She had been sighing a little too often as well, but she opened her eyes again when she felt someone knock on the door of the room that she was currently residing in.

_Log Horizon_ had kindly provided her a guest room for her to rest in for the time being, and she called out to the person at the door that it was fine to enter.

She had been expecting Shiroe-san, or perhaps Akatsuki-san to be the one who was behind the door. Instead, she saw the Guardian, Naotsugu-san, beaming at her from the door.

'Yo! Feeling alright? I got you some food, thought you'll be hungry and all.'

Naotsugu greeted her with a cheerful smile that Nathiru returned faintly even as she bowed to him. Naotsugu-san had the build of a Knight, but his mannerisms were far from anything close to a real one. The _Izumo Knights_ were a well-disciplined group of individuals that were both serious as well as dedicated. Each of them carried large responsibilities on their shoulders, and for the most part, acted in a way that helped them to cope with it.

Of course, it wasn't always that way, and Nathiru recalled fondly the times that the commander himself would join them for a drink or two late at night after the final reports were vetted and discussed together as a group.

Nathiru knew of the two sides of Naotsugu-san as well, for she had been in the front lines together with him in the defence of _Choshi_ Town. She had seen first-hand how the Guardian had been the one actively luring, aggravating, and gathering the attention of the mobs to ensure that their team-mates could pick them off safely without worry.

A tank's role in the group was to do just that: to be the ones who took the hits, the ones who would always be at the front lines taking damage, being injured, and to ensure the safety of their other team-mates for them to carry about their own tasks.

As a supporter, as a strategist, Nathiru knew that as a tank, their role and task was to do just that. At the same time however, she could not imagine for one second how they must feel when fulfilling that role.

To be the ones who must never break ranks, to never be afraid of facing the monsters that they were facing, to bear the responsibility and knowledge that if they failed, so would the entire party. The same goes for her in a supporter role as well, her fate laid with the tank and guardian in front of her. No doubt she would always worry him but the same goes for her as well. Always supporting him, and praying that her trust in him was as founded as his trust in her to keep him going.

That was what it was like, wasn't it? Those of the front line must always trust the supporting party; the supporting party must always trust the front line. If one side failed to do just that, the entire party was doomed to die.

Death. Cold, unforgiving and ruthless Death wouldn't care about your excuses or reasons. Just thinking about it made Nathiru freeze a little before Naotsugu frowned and asked if she was fine.

..

'A-Ah, yes... I was just... thinking about something.'

Nathiru replied hesitantly before inviting him to take a seat to join her, even pulling out a chair for him as he placed the tray of food on the small table in the room. Naotsugu didn't sit down as she expected him to, him looking a little uncomfortable and fidgety until she spoke up, offering him a small smile.

'I have not thanked you formally for that day, have I?'

'Thank me, for what?'

She was probably the cause of his discomfort, and Nathiru felt a little bad till Naotsugu replied with a confused expression on his face.

Naotsugu-san was painfully blunt, but Nathiru didn't dislike that from a Knight, she had met her share of pigheaded individuals, Knights were a prideful bunch after all, she too was one of them, but she knew when to back away, and when to stand her ground. To meet someone who wasn't too strict or sticky to the rules was a relief to her.

'For guarding me on the beach front. Without your support, I would not have been able to help support the front lines as much as I did.'

'Ohhh.. That, huh? Well, a Knight should always protect those that needed protecting right? And honestly, seeing you wear leather armour freaked me out. I didn't want to see anyone die in front of me if I can help it.'

Naotsugu admitted while scratching his head. Nathiru on her part covered her mouth delicately even as she nodded in agreement to his sentiment.

'Seeing someone die is never a good experience, but as Adventurers, I'm surprised that you would even.., be bothered about that. It shouldn't be something that you would be worried about after all.'

Adventurers were immortal beings, just like the monsters that they were killing. Adventurers would respawn in the Cathedral. Why would they care about death at all? It was meaningless. They could just shrug it off if they fell in battle.

Naotsugu was speechless at Nathiru's words, and the look of shock was enough to give Nathiru pause, as well as to turn her bitterness at the immortality of the Adventurersto curiosity. Was she missing something here?

'Did I say something wrong, Naotsugu-san?'

'Of course we would care; to die is something that is scary... I haven't died once since I... came here. I wouldn't want to experience it. Why would I not be bothered about it?'

Naotsugu's words made Nathiru confused again, did that mean Naotsugu-san had not died even once since over 60 years ago? That didn't make sense... no, it would make sense that he would have at least died once in that amount of time, right?

It seemed just... impossible for someone to not die in such a long period... She hadn't died before, so she wouldn't know. But... in terms of technical age, Naotsugu-san was much older than her, even though they appeared to be of the same, physical age!

Which was actually quite jarring after one considers it.

..

'Naotsugu-san, do you mean to say that... you have not died even once so far? Considering the amount of time that you and Shiroe-san has been active in the years... that does not seem realistic... or honest to me.'

It was a silly question no doubt, but to an Adventurer it was a valid question. To a being that could die, and be reborn, there was technically no limit to how many times they could die, right?

'Well, I died before, but not... well, how do I explain it... I did die before, but not here... Ugh, where's Shiroe when you need him?'

Naotsugu scratched his head helplessly even as Nathiru continued staring at him in confusion.

That didn't make sense at all, in fact, she was sure that she was even more confused.

Was the information that they had relied on regarding the Adventurers were wrong? The _Tea Party's_ first notable feat was recorded around 20 years ago, and it had been at least 80 years since the first record of the High Sorcerer Shiroe was confirmed.

If Naotsugu-san had been partners with him, they should put them active for around the same period.

Had he truly not died even once for around 60 years?

Besides the Nobility of the People of the Land, where it wasn't uncommon to live to a ripe old age of 80 years old, the average People of the Land would be lucky to even see his or her 50th birthday. For an Adventure_r_, it wasn't uncommon for them to die at least once accidentally as easily from their 10th year in the world while learning the ropes of being an Adventurer.

Placing into consideration that Naotsugu-san had seen many, if not the hardest skirmishes and battles that had ever been recorded - the implication that he had not died even once was truly astounding!

..

'You shouldn't treat that subject so lightly, Nathiru-san... It's not good to speak about the dead and the fallen; even if we are Adventurerswe don't discuss this at all.'

Naotsugu finally answered with a perfectly straight expression, a stark contrast with the usually carefree expression that he wore. Nathiru noted clinically that was similar to what he wore when he was in the front lines, one of intense concentration as he lured the mobs in his direction for his team mates.

Nathiru could recall what had happened then - at the time when she saw the small group of young Adventurer_s_, the small team that was led by Minori - clash with the scouts from the Goblin invasion fearlessly.

They were hopelessly outnumbered, out gunned, and they were barely a match for the stronger _Dire Wolves_ that the _Goblin Tamers_ had brought with them. But they had kept fighting. They had not run away when they could abandon the People of the Land in the town easily.

As a Knight, even one as lost and abandoned like Nathiru was able to draw inspiration from their actions. She was a Knight. She was supposed to be the ones protecting the People of the Land_._ The innocents, the weak, and the helpless. She had saved grown men - knights in their own right, young men who were unable to muster the strength against the monsters that infested the world. And she had also seen and saved her share of women and children too, the ones who were the weakest, who were either too weak to fight against the scourge. They were perhaps too innocent... or perhaps even too kind and naïve to raise a weapon against monsters who would have no mercy. Who would kill them without even letting them know what had happened.

The children that she was supposed to save were now the ones who were fighting in her stead. They were Adventurers, yes, but they were still children. This Nathiru could ascertain from the way they spoke, from how they could still laugh and tease each other in the way only a child would during lulls in battle when they were supposed to be focused on the battles ahead.

So what was she doing just standing there, hiding in plain sight while they fought so hard for? She was a Knight who was supposed to stop this Invasion from happening, instead...! Instead she was there, seeking refuge and not even using her strength where it mattered the most!

..

And Nathiru, despite being unsure as to what she could do - what she should do, found what she should be doing again from those child Adventurers.

She had subsequently shown up in the main battle line and volunteered her services. It was at the beach front where the battle was the most intense as they were being invaded by a countless number of Shark-men. The battle line was stretched thin despite the best efforts of the defenders, the Adventurers who were struggling to hold the line and prevent mobs from invading the town.

Nathiru hadn't given up her title of a Knight just yet, but as explained to Shiroe-san before, she was forbidden from revealing her identity or making contact with anyone other than the Knights or other _Ancient Types_. Thus she had instead opted to wear the cheap leather armour that the Adventurers had seen her wear when she had shown up to assist them.

As a _Bard_, her skills consisted mostly of AOE(Area of Effect) spells that would affect every individual within a specific area. If Nathiru had partied with a specific group, she could offer much more beneficial passive skills, but since that was impossible it would reveal her identity, she had resorted to her other skills to help turn the tide against the enemy.

Using her skills, Dirge of the Hamelin and Ballard of the Piper, Nathiru was able to decrease both the AGI as well as the DEX of the Shark-man monsters, making it much easier for the Adventurers to take down their foes. As the two stackable spells had quite the AOE range, not to mention having a long duration and low upkeep cost, it was favored by Nathiru regardless of the situation.

There was, however, one drawback. For the spells to have its full effects utilised on the stretched thin battle front, Nathiru would have to place herself in the middle of the battle lines as well.

In normal circumstances, she would have a front line of Guardians or attackers to draw the mobs' attention away from her, but in this case, she had to fend for herself, and protected with only the lowly leather armour that she had bought a few towns back.

Nathiru was far from helpless, as a Level 100 Bard, she was more than capable of taking a few hits from the relentless Shark-men, and seeing that she did take the time to equip an accessory that provided her with auto-recovery, Nathiru was certain that she could stay in the front lines just as long as any of the Adventurers.

But by gods it still hurt when the Shark-men attacked her. Being primarily a ranged attacker, Nathiru was unable to despatch off all of the Shark-men who saw her as a tempting target despite her and the other Adventurer's efforts to protect her.

The younger Adventurers were trying their best, and Nathiru could not fault them for their inability to properly support her. However, that all changed when Naotsugu-san took position in front of her as her guard.

Nathiru could tell that he was experienced, for within a few seconds of his arrival, the Sharkmen were driven into a frenzy to attack only him. With all of the targets clumped around the guardian, the ranged attackers, Nathiru included, found them to be easy pickings.

It also helped that due to Nathiru's own support skills and her own battlefield awareness to cover the areas that needed the most support, meant that the line held firmly without any fear of it breaking. The most impressionable part of that battle to Nathiru, was how Naotsugu never seemed to waver, not even to look back at who was supporting him.

He was resolute, patient, selfless, as well as calm despite the sight, sounds and sensation of being attacked by waves and waves of crazed Shark-men, armed with their spears, fins and teeth waiting to tear him apart.

The _Izumo Knights_ front-guards carried the same resolve, and Nathiru had not thought that she would be able to meet someone like them so easily, especially amongst supposedly immortal Adventurersfor they would never need to be as cautious as they were and she thought would be more reckless than ever.

She supposed that Naotsugu-san was amongst the few that took their roles as a frontline tank seriously. Even when Naotsugu-san used a brief reprieve in battle to ask how was she - was she faring well, whether she needed any potions to keep up her support and, that she could back down if she wanted... it only increased her respect for him for he could still remain human even doing such a thankless task.

She was also ashamed to admit had she had nearly wanted to clobber him for trying to favour her because she was a _girl_– or perhaps to thank him for his concern, Nthiru wasn't sure which, but she was sure that it was one of those two.

..

'The dead; those that are lost or had lost to death itself. Be it from battles, from accidents, from sickness or from their own foolishness. Naotsugu-san you, you are right in saying that we should not talk bad about the dead... but is it the same for Adventurers? You are beings that will not die, beings that cannot die, beings... that will never experience the loss of someone that had been close to you, am I not right?...'

Nathiru spoke softly without realizing it, and she blushed when she realized that even if she had not meant what she had said. She had probably hurt Naotsugu-san with her insensitive words as those same words would also seem like she was belittling them and their own sacrifices in the battles that they had taken part in.

The two lapsed into an awkward silence that became even more strained when Naotsugu shifted, his strong body heaving as he spoke up after a short while.

'So why do you want to be an Adventurer, Nathiru-san?'

* * *

..

Behind the door that led to the guest room that Nathiru and Naotsugu were currently in, a few figures were listening into the conversation quietly and openly. They could all hear the two's conversation even through the door. It was why Shiroe led Nathiru to a private room in Akihabara earlier to keep a private conversation in the first place.

The Adventurers could hear Naotsugu just fine, but they had to struggle a little to pick up Nathiru's voice. This was especially so for her last line, which had made Shiroe wince.

As the leader of Log Horizon, he had finally decided to reveal to them what feat he had accomplished for Nathiru to ask that favour from him in more detail.

He had successfully managed to change one of the People of the Land, into an Adventurer instead. It was essentially the same as causing one person to change race, or even species. That person in question was _Lundhaz_, he had chosen to be sacrifice himself as bait in the defence of _Choshi Town._ Their party had encountered the Dire Wolves which were of several levels higher than them in numbers they could not deal with without someone taking one for the team.

It wasn't just his bravery, or for the sake of an experiment that had convinced Shiroe decided to save him. No, it was because his fellow guild members had asked Shiroe to save him, someone who had hidden his status as one of the People of the Land to be an Adventurer.

Shiroe had no doubt that _Lundhaz_ has his reasons to hide his identity and trudge on with the risks of being an Adventurer, and he knew that he would have to know why eventually to protect him and his guild. But for now, he was content to wait for _Lundhaz_ to tell that story on his own accord.

Shiroe had been uncertain before, this loophole in the world was something that he wished to keep from spreading.

Who knew what others with less savoury intent would do with this new information, and ability?

Besides, what kind of beings were the Adventurers anyway? They were real people, this much Shiroe knew, but what exactly happened to the world that they came from, the bodies that they had left behind? Shiroe wasn't sure, and he was sure that he wasn't the only one who was asking that question.

They couldn't give up. No. They shouldn't give up on going back to the world they came from. So - what would happen when they did go back to their real world? What would happen to _Lundhaz_ then? Would he be brought back with them? Would he even notice that they were gone as a part of them would remain here? Or would he be the sole Adventurer left when they all left this world to go back to the world they belonged to?

..

Shiroe didn't really want to dwell on that, it would be a fate worse than death. For he remembered what _Charste_, the leader of D.D.D, mentioning to himself that if they did not find a reason to keep on going anyway, there wasn't really a difference between life and death. Those words had never left Shiroe's heart, and it still weighed heavily on him now.

The Adventurerswere thriving, they were living, and they were certainly getting more used to life in this world. Shiroe just hoped that they hadn't simply accepted their fate and had gotten used to the situation, hence giving up on leaving this place. He, for one, was not going to endure a life time of immortality, he could see, clearly, why it was not as hyped out to be.

_Lundhaz_ had chosen this path, to become an Adventurer of his own accord, and therefore he wouldn't regret whatever happened due to his change.

But Nathiru was another matter altogether, she had been spot on about how her request would have far-reaching implications and complications. If he agreed to her request, due to her status, there would be no way it wouldn't be discovered. Not to mention how it was yet another life changed... this time a member of the _Izumo Knights_. Shiroe could actually think of a few reasons why Nathiru wanted this, but neither of them spelt anything good.

'Hmm... Naotsugu-kun is being strictly serious today nyah, normally he would have flirted with her by now nyah!'

Nyanta stroked his whiskers mischievously even as Shiroe gave an exasperated half grin back. Naotsugu was like any average guy with his love for lewd jokes once in a while, but he was honest and gentlemanly, like a Knight.

Akatsuki on the other hand, simply sniffed unhappily, muttering about perverts while shaking her head.

'Let's just see what happens.'

Shiroe offered even as he tried to suppress his own smile. He hoped that his best friend, Naotsugu could handle the situation.

* * *

..

'Naotsugu-san, have you had anyone close to you who died?'

It was a while before Nathiru spoke, and when she did, she did so while leaning back against the chair she was resting on. Her eyes weren't on the Guardian that was in front of her, but instead was focused on somewhere else, perhaps even someone else of whom that he couldn't see.

'No..'

Then you wouldn't understand.'

Nathiru replied fiercely, and yet emotionally, while at the same time passionately as she offered him a small smile in return.

'You wouldn't understand how those who were left behind would feel. You wouldn't know the questions that those that remained had asked themselves, the questions that have been left behind for us to decipher. The sheer weight of their dreams, their wishes and their goals on our shoulders, those that were left to struggle on without them. You wouldn't need an answer, you wouldn't want to seek for it; you wouldn't know how hard it is to _not_ have an answer, to never wish that you would be there when it happened. The questions that you want to ask them, the many regrets that would never be answered; the doubt that one would feel every time you think about them. This, all of it, many of it, so many of it that I can't not stop thinking about it.'

Nathiru's voice grew louder and louder as she clamped her hands over her head in what could only be described as a breakdown.

'Oi, you alright?'

The answer to that was obvious as Nathiru shook her head even as she continued to mumble to herself.

'I'll never be alright... It never ends, Naotsugu-san... It never will until I get an answer...'

'And then... what happens after that?'

In a surprising flash of insight that came from out of nowhere, Naotsugu asked Nathiru something that even he was unable to reply to. But it made sense. What would she do after all the answers were given? What then?

'… I... I will only know that when they are answered... At this rate, I will never...'

Nathiru trailed off slowly, taken aback by the complexities of Naotsugu's simple question – especially... especially when she had no answers of her own yet.

'No need to think about it at any rate just yet! Yeah, that sounded wayy more responsible in my head. But yeah, that's what I want to ask. What will happen after that? When you get your answers? What if you never find the answers you were looking for? You need to think about it too!'

Naotsugu rubbed the area below his nose uncertainly but he grinned when Nathiru continued looking at him in confusion.

'When I fight with Shiroe, I always think about how we would celebrate after the battle was over! Lately my motivation is thinking about what Nyanta-iincho would prepare for dinner! If you don't have a motivation, or a goal to work towards to, it won't help you. If you don't know what you are aiming for, it's not a goal! What answer are you looking for? Maybe that's the better way to motivate yourself!'

Naotsugu grinned even as Nathiru found herself lost in the conversation that Naotsugu had weaved. She wasn't asking for advice about motivation, she was talking about how it was different between Adventurersand People of the Land_!_ Not... this silly topic!

'Then.. to answer your question... I want to know why my friends died...'

'So is that why you want to be an Adventurer?'

Naotsugu's question came again and she wondered if Shiroe-san had asked him to pester her with that question, but then again, it had nothing to do with their conversation so far! Was this what speaking to Naotsugu-san was going to be like?

'I... no, it's a means to know... the answers to all my questions.'

'… Is that it? You don't need to be an Adventurer to find your answers.'

Naotsugu's reply made Nathiru flare up, but she didn't react, not openly at least, as she knew that he was going to continue for he tapped his own head in reply.

'It's always in your head. It's... you have the answer to most, if not all of those questions all along.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: For those who read this due to the Anime, spoiler warning? Aha~**


	4. Detailed Introductions

Recommencement of Time

**Chapter 4: Detailed Introductions**

..

Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon**

* * *

**Author's Notes: I updated Chapter 1-3 with the revised terminology, and I think I should highlight this again, this Fanfic would cover and explain events from novel 1-4, so spoiler warnings, many of them, even if they might not always be that obvious from the start.**

**Thank you, _Kurizon _for the beta! Thank you! With no further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

..

'That was surprisingly smooth for Naotsugu nyah.'

The 'class president' of the _Tea Party__, _Nyanta rubbed his chin casually even as he looked on fondly and proudly at one of his charges, Naotsugu for his words towards Nathiru. He didn't feel bad about eavesdropping on their conversation for they were discussing about a decision that would drastically change the life of Nathiru. Thus it wasn't something to be decided on a whim or treated lightly.

Nyanta was called the class president, or Iincho by members of the _Tea Party_ as he proudly proclaimed that he was much older than all of them, their senior really and from what all the _Tea Party_ members knew, that wasn't too far off from the truth.

The original game, Elder Tales, has been online and maintained for up to twenty years, making it one of the most popular and immersive MMORPGs in the entire world. It had to be, in order to attract players for so long and due to that, the players themselves spanned for a few generations, some even reaching their 50s and 60s while others were as young as twelve.

Nyanta was probably around his thirties to forties, while Shiroe and the rest of the _Tea Party_ were in their early to mid twenties by the time the _Tea Party_ officially disbanded due to their unofficial leader having to take an extended break from the game.

Some other players like Naotsugu had done the same, Nyanta too found it difficult to log on and play while Shiroe continued.

Nyanta was also known as the class president and his claim of being a gentleman for he was always very caring, understanding and patient to all of the younger _Tea Party_ members. He not only listened to them, advised them on their troubles, but, ultimately, he was their role model in many ways both in and outside of the game even if he had no authority or position over them to do so. The _Tea Party _wasn't a formal guild, just a gathering of players and as such, they were all equal. It spoke a lot about Nyanta for him to be called and recognised as the _class president_ without anyone truly giving him a title like that.

One could say that he was the caretaker for the crowd of rowdy players in the _Tea Party_ and a member that almost all of the members would listen to.

He _deserved _the title really, and even Shiroe, who was the Guild master of Log Horizon counted on him for advice from time to time. Shiroe really respected him, and perhaps even depended on him for he specifically asked Nyanta to join them while starting the Guild in the first place.

Seeing that Nyanta was the one who had practically mooted and suggested the idea of forming _Log Horizon_ in the first place, it was conceivable that perhaps he wanted to take care of probably the guild that would no doubt cause the greatest ripples in Akibahara and even in the world of _Seldesha_.

His relationship within _Log Horizon_ was much the same, a senior to all of them, even Shiroe himself as the guild leader.

It was even more obvious when Minori and Toya joined the guild, the two younger Adventurers both looked up to and were treated in the same way by Nyanta, him being the older and more knowledgeable senior while Naotsugu was the big playful brother that everyone wanted.

Akatsuki herself was respectful of Nyanta, politely referring him to as her sensei, both in terms of combat ability as well as in seniority. Nyanta didn't mind, for he knew that it was Akatsuki's way of showing deference to someone else.

To Shiroe, he was his most trusted advisor as well as the vice-commander - Nyanta taking the burden of helping to smooth down the small matters within the guild while Shiroe dealt with the responsibilities of the guild at a larger scale.

Even _Lundhaz, _who was the newest member of the guild, was very respectful tohim, Nyanta finding it amusing how Lundhaz was so polite around him. Perhaps he didn't know what to do when faced with another gentleman like himself?

..

Nyanta wasn't a slouch when it came to battle as well and like all of the other top _Adventurers_, he had reached the level-cap of Level 90. His equipment wasn't too shabby either, all of the _Tea Party_ members were powerful warriors in their own right and they were able to obtain equipments that were _mythical _in their status, meaning even if Nyanta was inactive for quite a while, his equipment was still amongst the best that it could be. Of course, the reputation of the _Tea Party_ meant that their members were more often than not invited to join the biggest and strongest guilds as well, seeing that the _Tea Party_ wasn't really a guild in the first place. Nyanta himself had belonged to another guild before, but it was apparently disbanded during the _Apocalypse_.

That aside, one of their fellow tea-party members, _Soujiro Seta (__宗次郎__·__勢田__)_ had even started his own guild _The Brigade of the West Wind_(_西風の旅団_) and it had grown and evolved into one of the top guilds in the scene and was now even a member of the _Roundtable Council_. It was also due to his initial support that had allowed the council to be formed as well.

Shiroe himself was invited to join _The Black Sword Knights (__黒剣騎士団__), _arguably the strongest guild that was on par with _D.D.D_ at the highest level of raids, but he turned them down, preferring to play solo.

Back to Nyanta however, Nyanta's class was a _swashbuckler, _the only class that was able to dual wield weapons, setting them aside from the other classes. Swashbucklers were considered a melee class, thus, they could only attack straight on in close quarters. Besides their versatility of being able to use two different weapons at one time, they could also be considered tricksters as well. They were able to deal negative effects with their skills and were furiously fast, second only to the _Assassin_ class with their swift moments but as _Assassins_ were famous for their ability to deal the most damage with a single hit, _Swashbucklers_ focused on speed over substance, overwhelming their foes with their fast attacks while stacking negative effects on their foes.

This could range from decrease in physical attack speed/recovery, increase in skill cool-down time, decrease stats and so on. They were a class that could turn the tables on any engagement given enough time.

This was shown quite plainly on their first mission to rescue Serara, a member of the Crescent Moon Alliance that had been trapped and was being pursued by unscrupulous _Adventurers_ that wanted her to join them without her consent, using force if necessary.

Nyanta had been able to, with help from Shiroe, take down a level 90 _Adventurer_ almost instantly - like a OHKO (one-hit knockout move). Players who were familiar with MMORPGs knew that was almost impossible simply due to the fact that battles and duels at such a high level became a battle of attrition. It didn't help that Nyanta's enemy had a high levelled healer with him while Nyanta only had Serara, a level 19 _Druid_ with them. There was no way that Nyanta and Shiroe could defeat an enemy like that, but they had pulled it off, killing the other Adventurer before he knew what hit him.

It could be considered a secret technique, an ultimate finisher that no one else would be able to replicate. Akatsuki, who had been with them, agreed, for in order to pull off that technique required impeccable timing and understanding of each other's techniques. Not to mention teamwork, and most importantly was how the two of them had managed to pull it off so easily after reuniting with each other barely half an hour before. She and Shiroe had spend a week or two working on their teamwork together and seeing how it _should_ and _could_ be done with a stranger made her sigh at how out of the loop she was.

The truth was that the _Tea Party_ was such a well-oiled machine that they would be the strongest gathering of players ever if they hadn't disbanded.

..

'Hmph... As long as he doesn't scare Nathiru-san off...'

Akatsuki simply sniffed unhappily while crossing her arms. As the resident _Assassin_ and the first flower of _Log Horizon_, she had always been upset with Naotsugu for his jokes, which admittedly weren't the best to be said in fair company.

But Naotsugu was a healthy young man, and healthy young man had the right to fantasize and to joke about what they liked. This also meant that healthy young woman like her had the right to beat the hell out of them at the same time.

Unlike Naotsugu, who towered over all of them, even Shiroe, Akatsuki was very petite and small in nature. That was of course a gross understatement for she wasn't even up to Shiroe's shoulders in height.

Akatsuki was about the size, height and weight of a very small junior-high girl despite being a second year university student. It was something that pained and frustrated her for years despite her doing all she could to be treated seriously, to no avail.

Even when she was reasonably skilled in kendo and her bite was just as good as her bark, she was always treated like a mascot, an adorable girl in the eyes of many, boys and girls alike. Don't even get her started on how girls had tried to dress her up in frilly dresses like a doll. It was a trend that continued even today, she could _never_ get respect until she beat someone up.

Don't even get her _started_ on how many boys had tried to ask her out due to her physical traits, it was a miracle she could still treat boys and men in generally with more than just disdain at this point.

That was the reason why she had been playing as a _male_ character and was very focused on the character that she had fleshed out in the game. Unlike most of the players, Akatsuki didn't speak within the game, refusing to use verbal speech, choosing to instead, type out words to communicate with the rest. She was also one of the players who took her role-playing very seriously, every action and even her character customisation was build with an assassin, no, with a ninja in mind.

There was a reason that Akatsuki referred to Shiroe by the title of 'lord' after all, ninjas were supposed to pledge their loyalty and allegiance to a feudal lord or daimyo, no matter how cheesy it might seem.

But with all those layers of 'protection' and her dedication to her image, Akatsuki had been forced to reveal herself as a girl after the disaster that brought her to Seldesha. It was only with the help of Shiroe that she was able to edit her character customization to return to her natural gender. That in itself brought enough questions and queries about where and what the world around them was like, but that is a story for another time.

Akatsuki was eternally grateful to Shiroe for his timely aid and had pledged her allegiance to him. She had subsequently made good on the promise by joining _Log Horizon_ as one of the founding members. Nowadays she spent the time in the same way, being Shiroe's bodyguard in official matters but on normal days, she would go out to train together with the other members of Log Horizon_. _She felt more than a little upset that she wasn't able to help Shiroe with his assignment and work in the _Roundtable Council_ but she hoped that her other endeavours, like pulling him to have tea and dinner with the guild members helped him in a small way.

..

Her relationship with the rest of the members of Log Horizon was also quite dynamic.

Naotsugu, being partners with Shiroe was her first friend made in _Seldesha_ and her first impression of him was that he was perverted man who did not even disguise his own perverseness, even if Naotsugu really wasn't as bad as she claimed. He was just one of those average guys who were very friendly, like a huge dog, but at the same time talked a little too much about things that should _not_ be discussed so openly.

At the very least, Akatsuki wasn't embarrassed or shocked by his jokes, he probably meant well, even when they bickered with each other over the silliest things: her disliking his jokes and him irritating her about her height... even so – the two of them were still very good partners in battle.

They had to be. The two of them were the main offensive strike force of Log Horizon before Nyanta joined them, and she was grudgingly impressed with the skill that Naotsugu had with his shield and his overall capability as a guardian.

Akatsuki was not part of the _Tea Party_ but she had heard of them, just not from Shiroe, who she had partied with before in the past and therefore she sometimes found herself to be a little inadequate compared to the other members of the _Tea Party _within Log Horizon.

Akatsuki's relationship with the younger members, Minori and Toya was a little more complicated, however. She had been the one who had saved them from their forced participation in another guild. That incident was also coincidentally the catalyst for the formation of _Log Horizon _as well as the _Roundtable_ council. It was of course, a story for another time.

But she had been very impressed with the way the two of them helped in the rescue attempt, ensuring that all of the trapped and blackmailed _Adventurers _were able to escape that despicable guild that had entrapped them.

Minori was no doubt the brains of the two, the strategist and from how Minori had started emulating Shiroe, Akatsuki had no doubt that she was following his footsteps. Akatsuki was of two minds about that, on one hand she was happy that her lord had someone to depend on; however, on the other hand there was the unease that she felt whenever she saw them together.

Toya on the other hand was simple to understand, the younger boy was endlessly optimistic and easy to please. He had been a little surprised to learn that Akatsuki was his senior, but had made no comments about that. Perhaps it was due to how she had always managed to take down Naotsugu, Toya's assigned teacher.

As for the last member, Lundhaz, Akatsuki was on friendly terms with him simply because he was always polite to her, probably due to her being a girl, only he never made a big fuss over it. He was also an eager partner whenever they teamed together, and was very grateful for whatever help he could receive from her. Or from anyone actually... so perhaps that didn't count?

That said, Akatsuki was also one of the few members who wasn't really sure how she felt about Lundhaz and Isuzu's relationship.

Isuzu was a member of the Crescent Moon Alliance that had partied with the younger members of the guild in their defence of Choshi Town, she was no doubt smitten or at least interested in Lundhaz. Even Akatsuki, who was inexperienced in the matter of such relationships could see it. Unfortunately, Lundhaz himself was just as green in such matters like her... at least he didn't approach her for help...

..

By choosing to be a player with the class of _Assassin, _Akatsuki had the potential to deal the most damage out of all the player classes in the game and in Seldesha. It was achieved either through critical attacks, a single and debilitating attack or through extremely fast attacks in a very short period of time, making them one the most damaging classes in the game.

However an Assassin's skill set was balanced out by their lack of versatility. They were only great in dishing out the hurt and in other aspects were sorely lacking. Akatsuki's build was an Assassin with the _Tracker_ sub-class, a class that enabled her to hide, track and stay hidden in and out of combat. It was a sub-class that bordered between great and average in the sub-class popularity ladder due to the situational usage of those skills.

In _Seldesha _however, it was a great sub-class for its skills had enabled Akatsuki to sneak up on enemies, target their weak spots and to eliminate them easily without much effort. Sneak attacks were part of a ninja's repertoire after all and it actually made her very happy that she was able to fulfill her role.

Akatsuki was also well versed in combat, having learnt a bit of kendo before and as such had better reflexes and skills and so was a in much betterstate than the other players when they were first relocated to _Seldesha. _Her joining had greatly increased the rate in which Shiroe and Naotsugu could take down monsters and by the time they decided to head out for the rescue mission to liberate Serara their teamwork was superb.

It was also her skills that played a huge role in that mission, and the subsequent ones as gathering of information discretely and without being discovered was the modus operandi of ninjas, so even if Akatsuki felt that she had done nothing for Shiroe, she had done an amazing job. None of his plans would have worked without Akatsuki's feedback and support so far, even if she hadn't realized it herself.

..

'Hmm... Well, he's as blunt as always, that's for sure. Akatsuki, please don't attack him later on...'

Shiroe gave a wry smile even as he wondered what Nathiru's reply would be. He was also nervous about the situation, but he could do little with the limited information he had on hand right now.

Shiroe, the Guild Leader hoped that they would be able to get to the bottom of this incident quickly, seeing that it had the potential of exploding into a huge diplomatic and dangerous situation easily. He was of course impressed with what his best friend and partner had just said, it was after all, something that he wouldn't have been able to express so easily.

He had never been a charismatic person. His looks as well as his demeanour meant that he always gave a negative first impression. What made it worst was how Shiroe didn't quite mind that. Downplaying his skills and intimidating others wasn't part of his modus operandi, but it was also something that he didn't quite mind at all. The sad part was that he didn't outright intimidate, but simply caused others to be suspicious and wary of him due to the natural nasty expression he had on his face. Others would call those looks handsome, but to each, their own, right?

It was... complicated, and if Marielle of the Crescent Moon Alliance, one of the kindest and most caring of all the Adventurers, admitted that Shiroe did make quite a negative impression on people, he had no choice but to accept it.

As a member of the _Tea Party_ and the most famous strategist with the title of 腹ぐろ眼鏡 (Sinister Shades), which he hated by the way, he was a well-known player among the elites when _Seldesha _was still a game despite his looks.

His reputation had also caused him more than a little headache, the title of _Grand Sorcerer _was something that he could do without and even if most of the People of the Earth weren't aware of the particular title, Shiroe was sure that that would change soon over time.

He was also one of the members who had continued on playing in Elder Tales after the disbandment of the _Tea Party_ and in his private musings, was more attached to the _Tea Party _then he cared to admit.

But he had moved on from that, forming his own guild with the people that he wished to protect. He just wondered what their previous leader of the _Tea Party_ would think about that.

No, he knew exactly what she would have said. She would have just laughed and gone about in her stubborn way to do something that would cause a huge stir in Seldesha for the sake of her own amusement.

The sad thing was that Shiroe would have to be the one to put out another fire, or be forced to work out plans to help her achieve her goals. It was tiring, it was... impossible, vexing and yet at the same time fun. She gave him direction, and as a strategist, it was something that he lacked till now.

Shiroe was the one who revitalized Akihabara and all the players in the City. It was something that wasn't very well known amongst the players in Akihabara except in the highest chain of commands, but that was about to change in the near future. Akihabara was only one of many cities in Elder Tales, and it was the events that transpired in another city that had steeled his resolve to actually do something about the situation.

Akihabara was the biggest out of all the cities. That meant that they also housed the strongest and most varied guilds in the game together with the weakest of the players... it was the starting city for all players after all.

It was exactly that imbalance that had caused the abuse and neglect of player and human rights in the city. Without enforcement of 'law and order', it was a free for all, a return to the barbaric times where the strongest rule and the weakest cowered under their feet.

Shiroe hated that, it was something that went against what he and almost every person in a democratic society was thought. He believed that all of them were civilized people, players who should be much _better_ than that. He had betted on that, risked his team-mates, friends, guild-mates and his past bonds on that single hand and had been rewarded with a straight royal flush.

The _Roundtable Council_ was the result of his black-ops program, and it successfully restored law and order within Akihabara. Thinking about it, Shiroe was amazed how easy it was once all the necessary things were set in place.

Manipulating the economy and gaining influence due to that, outright blackmail to get the others to listen... but it had paid off. He wasn't the dictator or the ruler, everyone had a say and investment in Akihabara and that was what he wanted.

A place where he could be proud to be an Adventure_r_, and a place where they could all work together instead of against each other. Where people could mingle, help each other and at the same time, help all of them.

It was an absurd dream and it seemed impossible at the start, but right now, looking out at Akihabara -

With it's vibrancy, it's energy, it's growing communications with the People of the Earth. Most importantly, with the approach from Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir of the _Izumo Knights_, Shiroe was satisfied his choice was the right one.

..

Shiroe's relationship with the guild members was a strange one. Although described as manipulative and sometimes out right suspicious to many, what with him always hiding an ace in the hole in front of others, he was also the one who had pulled all of them together and had earned their trust and respect as the leader of the guild.

With Naotsugu, his best friend who had trusted Shiroe with battles and strategies for years and since they had met each other in real life while _Elder Tales_ was a game, they were truly best friends that trusted each other with their lives.

Due to their interaction in and out of the game, the two of them were the best of partners, balancing each other in terms of personality as well. With Naotsugu he was always a bit too optimistic and overbearing, which in turn made up for Shiroe being pessimistic and reclusive, so it worked out the best for them. That was not even commenting on how the two of them could take on entire parties of monsters by themselves. Players on the other hand was a little difficult, but definitely possible.

Shiroe's relationship with Akatsuki was odd to say the least, he respected her when she was still a _he_, and he was happy that Akatsuki seemed to feel the same as well, going out of the way to party with him even if he was primordially a solo player like him. Perhaps Solo players do gravitate towards each other? He wasn't sure really, but he viewed Akatsuki as a great team player and trusted him in combat, just like he did with him. The two of them worked well as well and were on good terms with each other.

But it had all changed when Akatsuki was revealed to be a girl, not that she was being sexist or anything, but it had definitely changed the way the two of them interacted.

He was aware of that, as even if Nyanta was the gentleman of the group, he had to pay attention to the whims of the ladies in the _Tea Party_ on occasions as well. So it was inevitable that things changed when they had to party with each other.

Perhaps he had been a little too much in his efforts to treat Akatsuki like a girl because she had been upset at him, and had gone to the other extreme to dedicate herself to be the best ninja for him.

Eventually he had gotten used to it, and she was a welcome comfort and presence around him as he trusted her, very much so.

The class president Nyanta was someone that Shiroe was familiar with just like Naotsugu and in many ways, Nyanta was one of his pillars keeping his sanity intact.

With so many things going on, having someone reliable to discuss things with was a huge relief. It helped that in more ways than not, Nyanta shared Shiroe's views and goals only he achieved them in different ways.

It wasn't quite a senior and junior relationship between the two of them. Rather, it could be described as fellow colleagues who had joined a firm in different departments. Nonetheless, despite their similarities and differences, Shiroe always felt that without Nyanta's advise and wisdom, it would be really hard on him to make the right decision.

Minori and Toya were to Shiroe his friends, players who he had met in the game and played together with before the Apocalypse that brought all of them here to _Seldesha_. They had been very enthusiastic, optimistic as well as passionate about the game, something which had cheered Shiroe quite a bit despite their huge level difference.

He had also been somewhat uncomfortable that they looked up to him, for to him, the two of them were shining examples of how Adventurers should be, while the elite and experienced players like him had started looking at the world with a dispassionate eye.

It was the plight of those two that had started the ball rolling for _Log Horizon_ after all and he really hoped that the two of them would continue to be themselves, real Adventurers to inspire in others the spirit of what Adventurers should have, instead of his analytical way of thinking.

Yes, Shiroe's efforts and actions were making great strides to help the Adventurers_, _but it was like his title of 腹ぐろ眼鏡 (Sinister Shades), he was shameless, unscrupulous and would do _anything_ to reach his goals.

He had crushed an entire guild to help form the _Roundtable __Council _and even if he was justified, they were oppressing the weak, it would only get easier the next time. Even in the incident of the Goblin Invasion, he had been prepared to manipulate and force the entire Free City Alliance Istal (自由都市同盟イースタル) to end the invasion on _their_ terms.

It was only with the intervention of the Princess that disaster had been averted, and they had found a reason to assist without causing any huge shift in the power balance of the region. The last thing he wanted was to have created tension between them and the _People of the Earth_.

Lastly, _Lundhaz_ the final member of Log Horizon, was the one that paid him the most respect. He was indebted to Shiroe and it showed, for he was the second most vocal supporter of him after Akatsuki. That in itself made him feel uncomfortable, and ultimately responsible, for he had turned him into what he was after all.

..

Shiroe was an _Enchanter _, a support class of the magical branch of player-classes and the most unpopular job-class out of all the player classes. That was due to _Enchanters_ being a mage class, which was the most fragile out of all the other classes and yet didn't have any magical fire power to offset the issues stemming from their fragility.

The other classes, the _Black Mage_ and the _Summoners_ were powerful users of magic. The former able to attack with elemental magics while the latter able to summon powerful, sometimes mythical beasts to their aid.

Enchanters on the other hand, were primarily a support class, focused on aiding their team-mates with passive and long-lasting buffs. Their magical attacks had to be activated as well, but they were also one of the few classes who can deal negative ailments like the _Swashbuckler_, only theirs were more varied and when used in the right manner, enabled them to take on entire armies.

This was proven when together with Nyanta, the two of them were able to perfect a combination that took out another warrior class in a single instant even with enemy healing support. That was amazing within it's own right, but Shiroe's control of the battle field was simply amazing. Naotsugu once remarked that Shiroe was able to calculate and determine the probability of an action occuring and plan the corresponding actions around thirty seconds in advance. Thirty seconds was a frightfully long time in combat, and he was able to do so with an approximately 80% rate of accuracy. That enabled him to be 2-3 steps ahead of any battle without question.

Despite all his strengths, Shiroe was self conscious of himself being limited to being a supporter, there were others who looked down on support classes as they were perceived to not be in the front lines and useless without a party.

It was a debilitating problem that was one of the reasons that caused Shiroe to be unwilling to join any guild and his subsequent preference to be a solo player despite needing a party to level in the first place.

That said, he was one of the few Enchanters who had hit the level cap, and as such was in huge demand from guilds due to his strategic skills, which was exactly what he didn't want.

'All we have to do is wait then.'

Shiroe whispered even as he wondered what Nathiru would have in mind.

* * *

**Author's Notes: I feel there is a need to explain in detail some events that was shown in Episode 2 of Log Horizon - The Animation.  
**

**In the LN, the rescue attempt to save Serara took place after several weeks had passed, allowing the three of them to work out their teamwork together, thus allowing them to be able to beat the PK-ers that easily. Also, they did not show much, if any hesitation in killing the Adventurers that ambushed them at all, which is something that I would like to point out would lead to major issues in the future as Akatsuki is an assassin that is supposed to kill, not to mention how there would be events later on which makes killing a necessity.**

**The few weeks that had passed also allowed the situation in Akiba and Susukino to worsen tremendously. Society won't break down so easily within just 2 days, I believe that's just an exaggeration in Episode 1 but other wise, the anime is rushed significantly, but it didn't leave out all the points.**

**My personal opinion of course. And, till the next time!**


	5. Detailed Introductions Part 2

Recommencement of Time

**Chapter 5: Detailed Introductions 2**

..

Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon**

* * *

**Author's Notes: No beta this time around, we'll fix that after Kurizon is back, I promise all of my readers.**

**If it wasn't obvious up to this point, the amount of spoilers within the first 5 chapters is staggeringly high. I would have given away almost 80% of what would happen in the next 4-6 episodes? What am I saying, I'm totally talking about events after all 25 Episodes of Log Horizon!**

**What's next is my personal comments for Episode 3 of Log Horizon - Serara is just adorable and her VA is totally unknown, what's up with that? The loose translation for Serara's sub-class would be housekeeper rather than, you know, Maid, but I digress.**

**Nyanta should sound older IMHO and it doesn't match for me. Demikas is a certified pedophile. I mean really. Why would you want her anyway when compared with other players? They didn't touch on how female players get a little harassment even in Akihabara but the studio... so it's quite light hearted when it could be much darker.**

**With that out of the way, enjoy being spoiled. Aha~**

* * *

..

'Good morning! Minori, Toya-kun, Lundhaz! We came to play!'

'We'll be in your care today as well, Minori, Toya-kun, Lundhaz-san.'

A cheerful voice accompanied by a more quiet but nonetheless enthusiastic voice rang out from outside the Guild House of _Log Horizon_ before the the sounds of footsteps rushing up the stairs was heard.

The owners of the voices, Isuzu and Serara of the _Crescent Moon Alliance_ waved and smiled at the two Adventurers that were lounging around in the dining area of the guild headquarters at the second floor. The two girls were friends that had dropped by to visit, perhaps visit wasn't the right word. They were here almost every other day after all!

The guild headquarters of Log Horizon was situated in what seemed to be an abandoned run-down six-story building that had ended up with a huge tree growing right through the cracks to tower over it. It was a guild house with character and was big enough to make cleaning it up a chore as well.

..

As _Log Horizon_ was a new guild who barely met the requirement for being called a real guild in the first place, the amenities that the guild had been able to purchase with their limited funds were mostly channelled to the necessities that the guild members needed.

They had been able to furnish a decent kitchen, dining area, wash room and to repair and fix up all the rooms that the guild members were using. It was still a work in progress but all of the guild members didn't mind, having such a huge building for just seven of them was a little too much for all of them.

But Shiroe had been insistent on the guild house and all the amenities, saying that it's a necessity more than anything else. Log Horizon was a guild that he had founded and created for the people that he viewed as precious, and it was a place for all of them to gather and to feel at home with. That's why he was willing to spend so much to maintain the place as well as to pay the rental fee of the building out of his own pocket of his own accord.

His guild members wanted to chip in too, but he had politely declined, saying that it was expected of him as the Guild Leader to protect and maintain the place for all of them.

So all of them had tried to chip in in their own way, for example Nyanta was just too fond of cooking for the group to split the grocery bills and was in charge of all the meal expenses for the guild. Minori and Toya too were more than willing to help out with the housework, repairing and cleaning their clothes and the guild house as much as they were able to, not to mention how they were contributing to a small fund set aside by the other guild members for daily maintenance that they kept a secret from Shiroe.

Akatsuki and Naotsugu were much more direct in their methods, they were the ones who would simply provide Shiroe with all the necessary equipment for his work at the Roundtable council, like the papers, pens, stationary and scrolls that he would require. With the flurry of development in Akihabara, the range of materials have increased tremendously as well. There were now speciality shops that sold things that ranged from stationary to undergarments that were made by the Adventurers.

It had advanced to the stage that paper scrolls were no longer limited to a speciality item that were created by players who choose the sub-class of a scribe.

The contributions were did not even consider how the two would sometimes disappear for a while only to return with top-grade materials, obtained only by hunting considerably tougher monsters for Shiroe's experimentation with his spell-crafting despite the two of them not always getting along. Naotsugu was also the official trainer of Log Horizon and he took responsibility of training the lower levelled players by taking them out to the field, training them in battle and being their coach. This freed Shiroe from the responsibility of managing as well as to draw training plans, which would be _another_ burden that he would take on with no complaint.

Besides teaming up with Naotsugu, Akatsuki would also be the one who spent extra effort on keeping the mental stability of Shiroe.

Being the official protector and ninja of the guild master, Akatsuki had been more than happy to carry out her duties to the more persistent pests that tried to occupy Shiroe's time due to him being a member of the Roundtable Council.

Akatsuki knew that Shiroe _hated_ politics even though he was a master at it, and as a member of the Roundtable Council meant that he had a certain amount of power and influence in the ruling of Akihabara.

..

There were individuals, royalty or rich businessman who would love to have such an influence on their side, possibly to try and gain some unfair advantage over others who didn't. It was something that was common in the world that the _Adventurers_ came from as well, so it was easy to expect that the _People of the Land_ would have similar individuals like that.

Those that persisted in their attempts to do was probably desperate as in order to win over Shiroe of _Log Horizon _one needed to get past Akatsuki. Despite her small frame and cute appearance, she was very strict and professional regarding her job. She would have most certainly killed off all of the rude nobles from the _People of the Land _that had tried to just barge in to speak to Shiroe without seeking an appointment or an audience.

It certainly didn't help the nobles case that although Shiroe might appear to be the weakest of the guilds. This was apparently true with their glaring lack of members. However the guild leader of _Log Horizon _was also the strategist of not only the Legendary Group of Players: The Debauchery Tea Party and was unofficially the strategist for the Roundtable Council as well.

If Henrietta of the Crescent Moon Alliance could be believed, also the leader of an unofficial black-ops cell within Akihabara as well. Shiroe was more than capable of forming one with the support of the other guilds at any rate.

That said, the founding members of _Log Horizon_ could be considered the first black-ops cell, seeing how they had forced an entire guild to be disbanded ruthlessly without giving them a chance to strike back.

Victory was already assured for Shiroe and his guild mates before their operation ever began. It was a necessary evil to get rid of that guild no doubt, but the members of that guild would never see it that way.

..

So Henrietta might _not _be exaggerating a little about the black-ops cell, but it was also true that Akatsuki had scared and threatened off a huge number of Nobles that had tried to, in their words: 'to drop in to advise a promising young leader of a guild on the proper way to do things'.

Akatsuki might not be as good in reading people and their ulterior motives like Shiroe, but she knew when people wanted to take advantage of their guild master and wasted no time in getting rid of the thrash.

It really didn't helped that many of those so called Nobles were arrogant pricks who looked down on them or treated Akatsuki like a small child till she showed them _why_ she was called a Ninja or an Assassin. Perhaps Akatsuki never quite got sick of looking at the panicked, tearing as well as desperate begging cries from the man she humiliated with her small frame.

Or perhaps she was just happy to be vindicated that size doesn't matter. The truth would never be really known, at least the younger Adventurers didn't dare to ask Akatsuki about it.

..

The last and the newest member of _Log Horizon_, Lundhaz on the other hand was contributing with the information that he had as had been one of the _People of the Land_ after all. Unlike the Adventurers, Lundhaz had memories before the Apocalypse and thus could give them a clearer picture on _what_ exactly had been going on before all of them, as in Shiroe and the rest had arrived 'here' in the world of Seldesha.

However since Shiroe hadn't fully filled Lundhaz in on how unique the Adventurers were actually, he didn't know that they came from another world was the most important point, there were limits to what he could share with them.

The fact remained though that Lundhaz had been able to shed light on how before the Apocalypse the Adventurers tended to keep to themselves. They rarely spoke to the People of the Land at all besides the barest minimum of conversations for transactions or for quests. It was an accepted fact that Adventurers tended to plainly ignore the People of the Land no matter the number of quests that they did for a particular individual. So it had been quite a surprise to the People of the Land to see the Adventurers really starting to interact with them all of a sudden after the Apocalypse. It was a drastic change in how the two races interacted and for the most part, it was also a learning process between the Adventurers and the People of the Land, the same way that the Adventurers were trying to coexist with them in the same way.

Isuzu and Lundhaz was the greatest example of the tentative and yet strong bond between the two different races. Before when Lundhaz was still a member of the People of the Land, it was Isuzu who had helped him open up to the group of Adventurers that they were partied with. Before he had been a good team mate but had always been more than a little distant, never quite bonding or staying with a particular party for long no matter the success.

Isuzu had thought that Lundhaz was an Adventurer, he had taken great pains to keep that a secret, but even after finding out that Lundhaz wasn't one, it hadn't changed their relationship one bit.

Even if Lundhaz would _never_ admit that he could never stand up or stop being led and dragged around by the energetic girl from the other guild.

..

'Eh, where's Minori, Toya-kun?'

Isuzu asked curiously even as she took a seat besides Lundhaz before the blonde boy could protest. Then again, she had became so familiar with the members and the guild house of Log Horizon as she had spent so much time here. Isuzu reckoned that she was pretty much an honorary member of them at this point, seeing how the five of them had always partied together after the Defence of Choshi Town. That reminded her of the request that she had came here to ask in the first place too...

'Nyanta-san is not here too?'

Isuzu's fellow guild mate, Serara looked very disappointed as she sat down beside Isuzu looking around expectantly. Isuzu gave a knowing grin to Lundhaz who simply ignored it, he wasn't in the mood to play around with Isuzu today, not today after he had just witnessed one of the most terrifying things in his entire life.

To the People of the Land, Adventurers were the closest thing to superhuman that they could imagine, they were created in the same image but were possible of incredible feats that they almost all of them were unable to match. However they weren't fully infallible, but one thing about that was common about them was that they kept to themselves.

They accepted that they were different from them, and thus treated them differently. It was something that had been established since generations ago.

But the **Ancient Types** could be described as supernatural or forces of nature. Even if all of the People of the Land respected the **Izumo Knights** for their assistance when theAdventurers fail, they were also beings that were too much of a mystery for them to really accept or relate with. It was actually easier to connect with the Adventurers as they did not shy away from them or to keep themselves hidden or isolated like the **Ancient Types**. It did not help that the **Ancient Types** were much more powerful than the Adventurers themselves and would never actively step in unless the conflict had grown to such an extent where it would threaten the very continent or world themselves. Unlike Adventurers, who took on the role of peacekeepers as well as guardians of the land when they took on jobs, the **Ancient Types** moved and acted only on their terms, meaning they were much more distant to the People of the Land despite being related to them in blood.

Thus being able to see and interact with a member of that race was more than a shock to Lundhaz, it was very, very intimidating for the **Ancient Type** would only surface and act when there was a _huge _disaster. Seeing one here was like a precursor to one, a natural disaster that no one could stop, hence warranting the need for the **Ancient Type, **the Izumo Knights to help.

It was a very morbid train of thought that made Lundhaz shiver, something that Isuzu picked up and he felt a hand resting on his shoulder before turning to see the freckled redhead smiling encouragingly at him.

'So what's wrong, Lundhaz? Is there an emergency meeting of some sort?

'Y-Yes, tell us, Lundhaz-san, Toya-kun. W-Why is everyone not in today?

Serara asked in worry even as Toya gave up, stretching while asking Lundhaz to explain.

'Lundhaz-san is older, and I don't get most of what's going on anyway! Minori's the smart one... and Shiroe-san asked for her help.'

Toya grinned even as the girls nodded in agreement, they all knew how smart and diligent Minori was, one key reason all of them functioned so well as a team due to Minori's battle strategies and plans. She was the older twin sister of Toya and even if Lundhaz, Isuzu and Serara were older than the two of them, all of them followed Minori without any hesitation. She had proven herself, and was the leader of the small party that trained and fought well together like a well-oiled machine.

With Minori's absence though, it all fell to Lundhaz as he was the oldest out of all of them to take charge.

'I could shed some light on the situation... but it will be quite a long story, and I can't tell the two of you everything. I am forbidden to do so by Shiroe-sama.'

* * *

..

'Is it really right for me to be here, Shiroe-san? I... I don't know what I can do to help.'

The older of the twins, Minori looked nervous even as she hovered behind the older and more experienced members of Log Horizon. The younger girl with short chestnut brown hair clutched on to her notebook like a lifesaver even as she spoke with their Guild Leader. Even if she really liked to spend time with Shiroe, and her other guild mates, she was feeling very helpless and lost about the current situation.

It wasn't that Minori wasn't smart, she could follow the conversation and could probably pick up on the hidden implications quite well. The problem was that there were still many blanks that were _not_ filled in due to her lack of information about the situation.

She was aware of the feat that Shiroe had accomplished, it could classify as the most important discovery so far out of all the discoveries made by the Adventurers, and it was supposed to be a secret that they were supposed to keep.

Since Nathiru-san was aware of that, probably due to the commotion that they had caused when Shiroe had successfully helped them save Lundhaz, she felt partially responsible for the situation.

That was the only reason Minori hadn't excused herself, not because she was trying to flee from the responsibility or the trust that Shiroe and the rest had on her, but because she believe she couldn't contribute at all.

'You fought together with Nathiru-san, and had seen her in action. You are also familiar to her, that means out of all of us, you are the best to spot any changes in behavior.'

Minori wanted to argue that wasn't the case and that Naotsugu-san and Nyanta-san had the same experience she did since they _had_ travelled back together. It was Akatsuki who shook her head and said that wasn't true.

'You are looking down on yourself, Minori. You are more than capable to live up to Shiroe-dono's trust in you.'

Funny how just one sentence from Akatsuki was enough to fire up Minori's resolve and determination for she nodded her head in earnest agreement. It was simply due to the acknowledgement that was given by the smaller assassin, Akatsuki as Minori had always felt pressured to do well when compared with her. Why do you ask? It's because of one simple fact that the two of them were in agreement that was buried deep inside their hearts.

'I-I'll do my best!'

Even as Minori clutched her hands while holding them below her chin, Nyanta reached out to pet her hair even as Shiroe smiled back at her as well. Those two gestures was enough to cause Akatsuki to look a little miffed but she went back to eavesdropping on the conversation that the other had without missing a beat.

..

Minori, a level 28 Shaman and one of the first members to join the guild Log Horizon together with her younger twin brother, Toya.

When Elder Tales was a game, the twins had bought copies of the game a few weeks in advance in anticipation of the newest update: Novasphere Pioneers. During their first day and foray into the MMORPG world, they stumbled along for quite a while till Toya gathered the courage to seek help from one of the more experienced players that were wondering around in Akihabara.

That player was Shiroe, who although initially meant to bring them to the shops and to point out helpful quests to the new players, found himself playing with them and teaching them the ropes.

Minori found that the time the two of them spent playing together with Shiroe was the best times of their lives even if they were just playing a game. The difference in level was so huge that Shiroe had to take a significant risk by adopting a mentoring role in the game to help Toya and Minori learn the ropes.

The mentoring system was a system in Elder Tales that allowed experienced players to party with lower level ones, 'apprentices' by lowering their own levels to be comparable with them. They would still retain their wide variety of skills and spells, but for all purposes they were around the same bracket as their young apprentices.

It was of course not without risks, they were still subjected to the same penalties if they died in combat and the loss of EXP for a high levelled player like Shiroe was nothing to scoff at.

All in all, Minori knew that it was a huge risk for Shiroe to take to use the mentoring system to help them when he could just watch over them instead of participating in battles together with them. Especially since Toya was always over confident and Minori herself too hesitant. Together they were just right though, kind of ironic that it was always like that.

But their shared experiences in Elder Tales aside, Minori and Toya had another reason to look up to as well as to join Log Horizon to seek Shiroe out as their mentor and guild master.

The two of them were saved by Log Horizon after all. They had been saved from their plight by all the combined efforts of all the members and more importantly, they had done so without even them asking them for help.

It might sound a little proud of Minori, but she honestly didn't think it was that way. She simply didn't believe that the two of them were worth so much effort to rescue and to save from the situation they had willingly and naively found themselves trapped in.

But they had been saved, and it was yet another reason on they wanted to repay their debt.

..

Her relationship with the rest of the members of Log Horizon were for a lack of better word, filled with grudging respect from both sides. Minori really looked up to the founding members of Log Horizon, not just for their experience as Adventurers but also for their display of resilience, courage as well as camaraderie even in their most trying times. All of them never filled to inspire Minori when she was participating in a raid together with them.

The founding members on their part respected Minori in the same way, as out of all the newly joined members, they could see the most potential in the young and frail looking girl. What she didn't have in physical strength she more than matched it up with her mental strength and tenacity.

Perhaps the first member to see what Minori could be capable of was Akatsuki, she was the one who had rescued the twins from their plight in the last possible moment, making quite an entrance as she did so.

She had seen how the two of them had done their best to coordinate and help their fellow captives out of where they had been held. They were adamant in ensuring that they left no captive Adventurer behind even if they knew that the longer they themselves said, the more risks they would be taking for themselves. However they had not hesitated in doing so and besides their courage, what made Akatsuki remember them was the coordination, planning as well as their fierce determination to prove and stand up for themselves. The fact that they did so even when they were sorely lacking the strength to do so was very impressive in her eyes.

Akatsuki could see their determination and desperation to get stronger oozing from all of their actions, and she found herself respecting that even if they were just kids and were much lower levels than she was. That respect had carried over in the guild, Akatsuki treating the twins coolly but respectfully as well. Minori on the other hand viewed Akatsuki as one of the few members who she might not necessarily approach for no reason, they were unfortunately too people that were too different to really get along. Thus preventing them from being friends despite being the only two female members in the group.

..

Naotsugu was the second person to see the potential that Minori in particular had, he came to that conclusion after seeing how much Minori had grown while trying to emulate his best friend Shiroe. She had adapted so well to the insane style of battle field control that Shiroe had that Naotsugu had goosebumps seeing Minori controlling the battle field like that.

He had since acknowledged Minori as an intellectual superior, even with his more diverse battle field experience which was only useful in certain situations. Minori on the other hand respected Naotsugu as her brother's teacher, they weren't very close but they really didn't need to as even in a family, some members were always just a little distant as compared to others. Perhaps it's how Minori sometimes feel that Naotsugu-san was just a bigger version of his brother, only indefinitely sillier and more open with his perverseness.

Nyanta had always been very kind to the younger players but in this case Minori found Nyanta more than just a friendly face and perhaps even a senior. Perhaps it was because she had so much potential that Nyanta treated Minori quite strictly when they were partying together, but outside of the battle he was still the reliable, warm and kind senior to them all.

Ironically Shiroe was one of the last members to properly and formally acknowledge and witness the potential for growth Minori had, or perhaps Shiroe already knew that fact way back when they met with each other. But it's also true that Minori looked up to Shiroe like no one else, she wanted to emulate him, to learn from him and respected him so much it was sometimes painful.

Shiroe on the other hand viewed Minori with a mixture of bitter and sweet feelings. He knew the potential growth that Minori had, he was also glad that Minori was studying and trying her best to nurture that potential of her own accord. However in the same vein he wasn't sure that he wanted Minori to grow at such a great pace not because he was more than a little envious of how unlike Minori he himself was when he was younger. She dazzled him, but at the same time he worried that Minori would eventually come to learn about the darkness of the world just like he did. If he could work it out, so could she... that by itself made the situation a double edged sword, with him holding the sword right in the middle.

..

As a Shaman, one of the three healing classes of Elder Tales besides the Cleric and the Druid, the Shaman stood out as besides normal Healing, they were in the business of damage prevention.

Their speciality spells were mostly to prevent, reduce or to redirect damage from monsters on Adventurers and in general was considered one of the more difficult healing class to master. It was actually quite simple to explain why that was so as 'Healing' was different from 'Damage Reduction', but at the same time, a good Shaman would be able to stack those effects so that there really wasn't much of a difference in the long run. That was especially important since as compared to the other three healing classes, the Shaman class was the poorest in pure healing ability.

However seeing that the two categories of healing versus damage prevention were totally different spells altogether, the much reduced cool-down time between each spell makes them able to compensate for the differences in pure healing.

As Minori was the only healing class Adventurer in the guild, one would imagine that Minori's role in the Guild would be reduced and limited to being a supporting cast similar to the Guild Master. It wasn't really a bad position to be in, but just stereotyping Minori based on her class was quite rude for the young girl contributed much more than that.

As stated before, she was the unofficial leader of her own party that has been formed and forged in the Defence of Choshi Town. Even if they had not officially appointed nor did they really need one, Minori was undisputed the leader when it came to leading them in combat.

In any other other scenarios Minori's opinions carried enough weight for her to influence the rest easily even if Lundhaz seemed, displayed and acted the role of a leader much more openly than her.

All in all, she was more than _the _healer. She was a leader, quite a very good one at that.

* * *

**Author's Notes: If you have any questions you would like to as, drop a review or a PM and I'll do what I can with my knowledge. **

**Cheers!**


	6. History of Adventurers

Recommencement of Time

**Chapter 6: History of Adventurers**

..

Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Another week, another update. This pace surprises me. This chapter covers the gap between Novel 4 and Novel 5.**

**I'm ****_not_**** skipping Novel 5's events, but it'll end up a little different from canon.**

**Since Episode 4 of Log Horizon is out, I can comment on it, right?**

**The big bad will probably get a reoccurring role somehow within the anime adaptation, I just feel it even though he got quite a hilarious send off by Serara. In the light novel it was the mage who was killed to prove a point while the big bad got killed by Nyanta immediately.**

**Yes, I'm no good with mook's names, heh~ Once mentioned, forgotten and then raised up again when you least expect it? Maybe that'll happen.**

**Shiroe was also depicted to be a little more malicious, it does suit him, but the impression given was that Shiroe would rather play his cards in a more concealed manner, he's way too confident in the anime. It's not a bad impression, but isn't the best.**

**Incidentally - Episode 2 of Log Horizon, the Ratman boss wasn't mentioned in the light novel, but I like the way they actually mentioned how the dungeon wasn't like that in the game. It's a foreshadowing of the events shown in Episode 3-4 as well.**

**That the world is not that simple.**

**I probably spoiled everyone who had read up to this point but well, disclaimer - Serious Spoilers Warning till the end of the anime.**

**Till the next time. And I'll answer any queries if I can about the series.**

* * *

..

'Ehh, are you guys going out on a trip then? What is the request that Nathiru-san wanted you guys to help with?'

Isuzu asked in confusion even as Toya shook his head at the girl that was sitting beside Lundhuz comfortably. He knew better to tease Lundhaz about the situation as he knew that Lundhaz really couldn't stand up or speak out against Isuzu, who had probably tamed him like how one would tame a dog. But their relationship was fine as Isuzu really was very fond of Lundhaz and cared deeply for him.

Serara on the other hand was as quiet as always, only this time she had reverted to one of her bad habits and that was starting to clean the place with a broom after a few minutes of Lundhaz's explanation on what exactly was going on for all the Founding members of Log Horizon leave the guild house unattended.

The two of them from the Crescent Moon Alliance really respected and looked up to all of them, both as their saviours as well as their very nice seniors. It was part of the reason they were so comfortable in the guild house after all.

Both Isuzu and Serara knew who Nathiru was as the two of them had tagged along with the group of Log Horizon members. It was very well known that the two guilds, the Crescent Moon Alliance and Log Horizon were very close to each other.

The respective guild leaders Shiroe and Marielle were acquaintances with each other before the Apocalypse and the rescue of Serara had made the founding members of Log Horizon heroes of the Crescent Moon Alliance.

The Crescent Moon Alliance was a middle-sized guild with members of around sixty members while Log Horizon had less than ten, no matter how one compared it, it was odd for the two guilds to be close.

However that was far from the case, the founding members of Log Horizon had very strong ties to Crescent Moon Alliance, especially their rookie members and as a result of their constant presence in the training sessions organized by the Crescent Moon Alliance, Log Horizon members were very close to all the members of the other guild with the exception of the Guild Master and his faithful apprentice, Akatsuki. It was quite a shame really, as although they respected the both of them tremendously, the younger players were quite intimidated by the two of them as well.

The two Adventurers of the Crescent Moon Alliance beside their leaders, Marielle, Henrietta and Shoryue, that were closest to Log Horizon were Serara and Isuzu due to the party that they had formed with Minori as the unofficial leader together.

..

They had been paired together as part of the summer training camp at Choshi Town and even if they had met with _a lot_ of difficulties at the start, they had became a very efficient fighting team together by the end of the taxing ordeal together.

'I do apologize, Isuzu-san. But it is a matter that our guild leader has declared to be confidential to only the parties involved in the guild. Please, do not try to make me break my promise to Shiroe-san.'

Lundhaz spoke sternly to Isuzu who looked tempted for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. She of all people should know the importance of secrets, she was one of the few who had witnessed Shiroe-san's law-defining magic at work in saving Lundhaz after all. She also didn't want to break the trust that Shiroe had with all of the, it wouldn't be a good idea to upset the one person she wanted to ask a favour from.

'Thank you for your understanding, Isuzu-san. But with how delicate the situation as well as the request was, I am afraid that all of us in Log Horizon would be hard pressed to take any other commitments in the near future.'

'What Lundhaz-san said, Isuzu, Serara! I was looking forward to going out to challenge another dungeon today too! But I guess we have to wait for a while till Shiroe-san is done with the problem,'

Toya clapped his hands together apologetically even as Serara's shoulders slumped while Isuzu just looked thoughtful.

'Well... about that, I came here to talk to Shiroe-san about something else as well... do you think he'll have time to speak with me, it'll just take a while, I promise!'

Isuzu begged Lundhaz even as Toya looked curiously at what brought this on. Serara on the other hand seemed to know what was going on as her eyes widened very briefly before she asked Isuzu whether this was really the best time.

'Carpe diem! Seize the day you know? And anyway, I've put this off long enough... I've told Marielle-san and Henrietta-san and prepared the papers too! I'm sorry, Serara, I know you can't, but things won't really change even after this... Aha~'

Isuzu reached over to rest a hand over Serara's shoulders before she batted her eyebrows at Lundhaz in a way that caused the blonde boy to shudder in cold sweat. Why did he feel that something bad was going to happen to him in the future?

..

'Ah... well, I wouldn't know about whether Shiroe-san could spare the time. I just hope that we can help Nathiru-san... It's going to be a new adventurer! This time I'll be protect everyone, even Nyanta-iincho and Shiroe-san! I hope I can go with them too this time instead of just taking care of the guild quarters.'

Toya pretended nothing was wrong even as he rolled his eyes at how Lundhaz was probably being over sensitive. But he was as easily excited as always, the stubborn one-tracked that was totally different from his older twin sister Minori his strength and advantage.

Toya was a level 35 Samurai that was currently under the tutelage of Naotsugu in the skill and technique to being a forward. Toya really looked up to Shiroe, their guild leader but it was also true that Shiroe couldn't possibly be his mentor as Shiroe's class fell into the magically adapt Enchanter while Toya was that of the physically based Samurai class.

Thankfully for Toya though, Naotsugu was there to take him up as an apprentice under him. The two of them had been training hard since his joining of Log Horizon, arguably even more than her older sister due to the two mages generally being more occupied and busy with paperwork than in actual combat. The training had been very tough and at times, he wondered whether he could really keep up with Naotsugu.

However Toya didn't fault her sister for not training as hard as she did, paperwork were an important, if tedious and frustrating part of life that they couldn't just ignore. Toya was actually very proud of her older sister for taking part and not being just a small supporting wheel in the cogwheel of life. She was actually one of the gears that run the wheels just by helping Shiroe-san with his work. Even if Minori didn't share with him what kind of information and paperwork that Shiroe-san had to handle, he was still certain that no matter how small or trivial the matters were, they still played a very important part in the grand scheme of things.

Not that Toya ever doubted what Shiroe and Minori were dealing with.

Toya and Minori were just teens in their own right, being fourteen this year, but they had punched about their weight and performed much better than their peers when it came to coping in Seldesha within the first month of the Apocalypse and subsequently afterwards where they decided to join Log Horizon.

The two of them, together with many of the newbie players/ Adventurers, were being exploited and forced to serve a guild that they had been unwillingly recruited into. The higher levelled players ruled and lorded over them with an iron fist while not giving them any chance to leave the guild at all. They were nothing more than slaves in that guild and many of the newbie players, many of them just as young or even younger than them had broken them.

They had given up, lost all hope and had lost to the Apocalypse in general. All they could do was to follow orders in the hope that they would be able to survive another day. Their tormentors had did a very good job too, letting them know how weak and helpless all of them were.

But Minori and Toya didn't lost to the darkness, Minori almost did and it was Shiroe-san who had pulled her out of it. Toya on the other hand was always struggling to get better, to get stronger using the knowledge that Shiroe-san had taught them while they were still players in Elder Tales.

That was their backstory together, and despite all the difficulties and hardship, Toya wouldn't trade it for anything else.

..

Toya's had quite a relationship with the rest of the members of Log Horizon as well with the exception of Akatsuki-san which he was very wary about. That was due to how he had seen first hand how strong she was. Akatsuki was the individual who had personally saved the two of them from the clutches of their captors at the very last minute. Toya would not admit it to anyone, but he had been captivated by her as the way she struck down their pursuer was just so graceful, elegant that it made his heart skip a few beats. Maybe it was a crush, but it certainly wasn't now as he had seen how fast and deadly the tiny assassin was in combat.

Monsters would be killed before they knew what hit them and most importantly, she was so fast and swift that even his master, Naotsugu couldn't block her trademark flying knee to the nose. Naotsugu-san confessed that even if he could see the attack coming, his body was unable to react to it in time to defend against it. Toya on the other hand couldn't even _see_ the attack until Akatsuki landed gracefully after the attack. His master was already groaning and clutching his chin or nose in pain when his shield was finally raised.

Finally, Akatsuki-san was much older than he was, and now really wasn't the time for him to be bothered about hormones when they were still stuck in a foreign land.

To his teacher, Naotsugu, Toya had nothing but compliments as he both looked up as well as saw him as a perfect role model. He was a little perverse yes, but that was what every boy would end up being, or so he was told. Naotsugu wasn't crude at all despite his openness in his perverseness and he might be wrong, but the girls were actually more accepting of that.

Naotsugu always believed in showing who he was at all times, and that coupled with his beliefs of what really makes a real man – 'An individual who puts everything on the line in the defence of his friends', made Toya respect him even more.

He wanted to grow up to be just like Naotsugu, with his skills, cheery outlook in life as well as his fierce loyalty to his friends. All that and more made Toya really like Naotsugu.

Nyanta iincho was another individual that Toya liked, the beastman senior was not only patient and understanding, he was also an archive of advise and information that he would dispense readily to help all of them.

Not only was he a good senior, he was also a great cook! Toya could sing praises of Nyanta iincho's culinary skills till the cows come home and it wouldn't be enough.

The only point against him was how Nyanta iincho would be a little more stern and firm on his older sister, but Toya knew that he was trying to help Minori be even stronger in his own way. Perhaps the two of them had to be motivated in other ways?

Lastly, Nyanta iincho was amazing as a combatant as well and he was in awe at the way he would swiftly thin the mobs in a pace that rivalled Akatsuki-san when on the field with a cheerful smile on his face.

Toya's relationship with Shiroe-san was one that spanned the longest out of all the members of Log Horizon and he viewed him as more than their guild leader or his teacher or his saviour. He was a source of inspiration, hope and a place that he could look up to motivate him. He could _never_ reach to Shiroe-san's level, that much he knew but it was a goal that he _wanted_ to see to remind himself that there _were _others who were always out of reach. It was humbling, but it didn't feel that bad for he idol-worshipped Shiroe-san to some extent.

Lastly, the Black Mage and senior, Lundhaz had a close bond with Toya as well. It was kind of weird to call him his senior when he joined the guild at a later date then he did, but since Lundhaz was older and smarter, he didn't mind.

Their friendship was formed due to the party that they had formed in the Summer training camp and it had grown and developed with the time they spent in the guild. Toya found Lundhaz's way of expressing himself to be extremely odd, too formal for his preference but since it was something natural, he didn't quite mind. Besides, he was a totally cool friend to have, seeing that he didn't really have many guy friends in Seldesha that could actually keep up with the grueling pace that he did.

Even if Lundhaz was a mage, he was always pushing himself when on the fields training with Naotsugu and Nyanta watching over them. They weren't really 'brothers' but were good friends and very good comrades due to how Toya would prefer to spend time with Minori more due to their stronger bond.

..

Toya's chosen class was of Samurai, the second in the warrior classes besides the Guardian and the Brawler. As stated by the title, the Samurai class was one who specialized in sword-play and their style relied on their variety of powerful skills with the drawback of having a long cool-down period. The Samurai class was also a class that packed more damage than the other warrior classes due to their preference to use swords, but at the same time they were seen as the middling class between the Brawler and the Guardian due to their usable equipment and skills.

Most importantly though, even if the Samurai class was suited to be at the front lines like the other two warrior classes, they were almost always just behind or with the Guardians due to their preference for steel armour like the Guardians but normally forgo the shield that they equipped to hold two-handed swords.

So even if Samurai players were rarely expected to be tanks for their parties, Toya had chosen this role without complaint as this was a role that he was the best in as compared to the other members. It helped that the Samurai class did offer the same skills for luring, aggravating enemies while at the same time he could use his own skills to actually prolong his survivability in battle. Lastly, his usable equipment would provide much more defense than his other team mates, who were mostly mage or supporter classes players, thus making him the logical choice.

Toya honestly didn't mind and it helped make up for the fact that unlike most Samurai players, Toya preferred a more all rounded build to balance his offense with his defense. That was actually to be expected, seeing how a guardian, Naotsugu was training him. Naotsugu's own style greatly influenced Toya's method of battling but more than technique, Toya had inherited what Naotsugu described as the 'soul' of a forward. It applies to those who have found the courage and the reason to step up and put one's life on the line for one's comrade as one's stats, skills and technique was only half of the entire picture when it came to being a tank or a forward. The other half of the equation came from one's presence and aura deep in the middle of combat. It all comes down to who would blink first in combat, and as a forward/tank, they must _never_ be the first to blink or show unease. They have to carry the soul of a forward! Toya was one who was starting to get it, graduating from slightly reckless to knowing the extent of his limits, and how much he could get away when pushing beyond them. Like Naotsugu had thought to himself, the sky's the limit for Toya in the future.

..

'Well if Nathiru-san needs help, I'll be glad to help out as well. I'm sure that the guild would be willing to chip in, right, Serara?'

Isuzu raised her hands to the air in excitement even as Serara blinked before blushing as she hadn't really been listening in on the conversation at all. She was too distracted with her own worries as well as concerns for Isuzu's request. Her request wasn't hard, and one might say that it was due to Shiroe-sama that Isuzu could even raise this issue in the first place.

So does that mean she has to take responsibility for Isuzu's actions? Serara didn't know and she couldn't find an answer to it no matter how much she tried.

Isuzu's words had caught her off-guard as she had just started coming out of her own thoughts when the freckled young girl asked her for her input.

'A-Ah, I'm sorry... I... I wasn't paying attention.'

Serara blushed before letting loose a small squeak when she dropped her broom in her panic before she bent down to try and retrieve it. Unfortunately for her, in her haste she stepped and slipped on the broom instead to land on her back with a huge thump. The other three Adventurers, seeing her plight, rushed over to see if she was fine.

'Serara! Serara, are you okay? Oh my gosh!'

'Please answer us Serara-san. Can you see how many fingers I am holding up?'

'I have a potion that you can use, Serara-san! H-Here, drink this!'

As the three Adventurers started to panic a little, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief when Serara shook her head and said that she was fine.

'I-It's my fault... and it doesn't hurt so much now... Thank you...'

Serara smiled at the three of them even as Lundhaz helped her to her feet, even if she looked and felt a little wobbly, Serara insisted that she was fine as she was led to sit in a nearby couch.

'Are you sure you are fine, Serara-san? Perhaps it would be good if you healed yourself as well.'

Lundhaz suggested even as Serara hesitated before nodding her head and casting the regeneration spell on herself.

* * *

..

Contrary to the People of the Land's belief, Adventurers do feel pain when they were injured and the only difference between the Adventurers and them was that the Adventurers were able to know exactly what was their and the monster's HP values, an info that was a great edge in battle. The People of the Earth didn't have access to such useful information and as such weren't able to 'experiment' as well as to calculate and formulate the battle plans as effectively as the Adventurers were.

It also highlights how much the Adventurers themselves do _not_ know about their counterparts, the People of the Land. The recent addition of an actual working shower room was the best example, bathing facilities had always been one of the most basic essentials for anyone, but such facilities were not found in the buildings and homes that the Adventurers owned. No one had even raise any questions or query from both sides till the discovery that, _yes_, the People of the Land did invent such facilities and were using them under the noses of the Adventurers.

It was not just an amazing find, it was also a very sombre one for the Adventurers who really started reflecting on why, and how all of them had missed so many signs and had taken so many things for granted that they had not even _interacted_ with any of the People of the Land up till the formation of the Roundtable Council.

It was true that at the start when the Apocalypse happened, the Adventurers themselves were too occupied and busy to even spare time to interact with the things around them. All of them were, to put it bluntly, in survival mode and as society broke down while all of them sought out ways to protect themselves, the Adventurers simply took everything for granted.

Seldesha was the designated world of Elder Tales, and all of the Adventurers, including the members of Log Horizon used their familiarity to their advantage to survive in this brand new world. The most important assumption they made was that this was still a _game, _when it definitely was not. This was a new world, a world that had history of all of them, the _Adventurers_ before they found themselves here. Was their own consciousness overriding the previous memories of the Adventurers that they were now residing in? Or was the company that had been making and managing Elder Tales managed to do the impossible and created a world within a world that they had accidentally transported the players into?

It was too Science fiction-esque for many of the Adventurers to really wrap their minds around and to even start contemplating the situation would require tremendous amount of time and effort to gather the information required to even making some assumptions.

Despite it being so, Shiroe - the leader of Log Horizon was trying. There was no doubt that they had to get to the bottom of the mystery of why, and what were they in this world. What kind of beings were the Adventurers? Why were they suddenly here? What happened in the past before they arrived here? What would happen if the leave? What would happen in the future? And how could they return? Could they return? Or were they truly stuck here?

All those questions were left unanswered now due to the sheer amount of work that needed to be done to stabilize the global situation that had became unhinged due to the Apocalypse. Case in point, the invasion of the Goblin General and it's minions were due to the Adventurers not taking up the requests from the People of the Land to scour the mountains to get rid of them in the first place.

From first hand intelligence, the Adventurers had always accepted the requests and quests from the Lords of the various towns belonging to the People of the Land to hunt the goblins. That fact was consistent with what the Adventurers themselves remembered of the quests that led up to the rising of the Goblin General. It was a bi-monthly affair that was tied to the mythology and background story of Elder Tales.

Once every two months, the race of Goblins who lived in the mountains would start to gather into small tribes before challenging each other to select a Goblin General to lead all of them into battle. If left unchecked, the Goblin General would thus have all the goblin races under it's banner, increasing it's level, power as well as all of it's allied Goblins.

There was technically no limit to the strength the Goblin General could achieve, it was 'evolving' so to speak and in order to stop the threat that it possessed, the People of the Land would always hire Adventurers through quests to take down the Goblin tribes one by one before the Goblin General could be chosen.

By decreasing the amount of tribes that the Goblin General could control, it's strength would decrease as well, making it a much easier task to take it down.

Taking into account that the Goblin General could still drop quite decent drops and it was still doable by the smaller guilds, it was a very popular quest in Elder Tales.

But in _Seldesha_, the threat was real and when the Adventurers stopped taking those requests, the Goblin General exploded in strength so much so that it required a raid party to put the entire Goblin Army down.

..

The Adventurers from before were most definitely _not_ them, but they were still _them_ as according to records obtained by Shiroe, there was recorded history of many of them, notable Adventurers that were taken down by the People of the Land.

_They_ existed, but _they, the Adventurers,_ were not them but right now they had to shoulder the same responsibilities as their previous counterparts, it was really the least they could do if they wanted assistance from the People of the Earth.

* * *

..

'Thank you for all of your concern, but I'm really fine.'  
Serara smiled at her friends who were still gathered around her after she finished drinking the glass of water that a very concerned Isuzu had given her.

'I am glad to hear that, Serara-san... you always try to push yourself a little too hard. You have to know what is your limit too. Moderation is key.'

Lundhaz tried to lecture Serara but was promptly stopped when Isuzu reached out to twist his ear angrily in response.

'Like you're one to talk, Lundhaz! Did you forget what happened at Choshi town? I swear, if you dare pull that stunt again, I will make sure guild leader-san never allow you to go on a raid again!'

Even as Lundhaz yelped while trying to get Isuzu to let him go, Toya grinned at Serara before raising an eyebrow at seeing Serara look a little down.

'What's wrong, Serara-san? If you have problems, maybe sharing it with us will help.'

Toya smiled encouragingly even as Serara shook her head and said that it was not _her _problem.

'It's Isuzu... she wants to ask something of Shiroe-san as well.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: Till the next time~**


End file.
